
Ken Hutchison
Actor · 1943 – 2021 · Leslie, Fife, Scotland, UK
One of the most brilliant character actors of his generation, Hollywood's loss was British television's gain with Ken Hutchison. Born in Scotland, his handsome features and cheeky expression guaranteed him a career in character roles, but his dangerous streak led him early in his career into dark, villainous roles. He was cast by Sam Peckinpah as one of the sinister villagers of Straw Dogs (1971), raping Susan George and participating in the film's closing violent siege. Peckinpah took to the actor, and the pair indulged in their love of drinking throughout the shoot, often to the frustration of those around them. Hutchison was soon offered a role in the Robert Mitchum film The Wrath of God (1972) but this was his one and only shot at the big time. Quite what went wrong is open to debate. Some say he was wary of success and got cold feet. Whether that is true or not, what certainly didn't help was his unruly behaviour which made studio execs nervous of casting him again. He returned to Britain and continued his career as an anonymous but astounding character actor. He appeared in two of John Mackenzie's Play For Today films based on Peter McDougall scripts. In Play for Today: Just Another Saturday (1975) he played the head thug of the Orange Lodge, and in Play for Today: Just a Boys' Game (1979) he played Dancer Dunnichy, an irresponsible rogue who lived for drinking and dodging responsibility, a character that seemed to echo his offscreen persona. Hutchison was a stalwart of British TV crime series at this time, appearing in series such as Shoestring (1979), Target (1977) and Jemima Shore Investigates (1983) as well as The Sweeney (1974). In fact he also played the lead villain in the movie Sweeney 2 (1978), but the script allowed him precious little opportunity to shown off his skills as an actor. In 1978 the BBC cast him as Heathcliff in a serialisation of Wuthering Heights (1978) and he brilliantly captured the rough magic of the character. In the 80s he was seen less, although he had a regular role as the boss in children's series Murphy's Mob (1982). Since then he has appeared inevitably in shows like The Bill (1984). His great strength is an incredible ability with accents, and super comic timing, but he is also excellent at conveying menace. A riveting screen presence, Hutchison is long overdue for recognition as a treasure for British drama, a talent which his own country has rarely recognised.
Series19
TV6.2DramaSoapDrama series about the staff and patients at Holby City Hospital's emergency department, charting the ups and downs in their personal and professional lives.
Casualty
1986 · 88 votes
TV6.6DramaPlay for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted. The individual episodes were between fifty and a hundred minutes in duration.
Play for Today
1970 · 10 votes
TV7.1ComedyDramaRoguish comedy drama following the misadventures of small-time crook Arthur Daley.
Minder
1979 · 30 votes
TV8.1Action & AdventureDramaJack Regan, an unethical officer of the Flying Squad, uses unorthodox methods to pursue criminals with the help of his partner, George Carter.
The Sweeney
1975 · 28 votes
TV7.0DramaITV Playhouse is a British comedy-drama TV series that ran from 1967 to 1983, which featured contributions from playwrights such as Dennis Potter, Rhys Adrian and Alan Sharp. The series began in black and white, but was later shot in colour and was produced by various companies for the ITV network, a format that would inspire Dramarama. Actors appearing in the series included Leslie Anderson, Gwen Nelson, Ricky Alleyne, Pat Heywood, Michael Elphick, Ian Hendry, Edward Woodward, Margaret Lockwood, Jessie Matthews and Lloyd Peters.
ITV Playhouse
1967 · 3 votes
TV7.1Sci-Fi & FantasyThe crew of Moonbase Alpha must struggle to survive when a massive explosion throws the Moon from orbit into deep space.
Space: 1999
1975 · 166 votes
TV6.1Action & AdventureCrimeThe Protectors is a British television series, an action thriller created by Gerry Anderson. It was Anderson's second TV series using live actors as opposed to electronic marionettes, and also his second to be firmly set in contemporary times. It was also the only Gerry Anderson produced television series that was not of the fantasy or science fiction genres. It was produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment production company. Despite not featuring marionettes or any real science fiction elements, The Protectors became one of Anderson's most popular productions, easily winning a renewal for a second season. A third season was in the planning stages when the show's major sponsor pulled out, forcing its cancellation. The Protectors first aired in 1972 and 1973, and ran to 52 episodes over two series, each 25 minutes long - making it one of the last series of this type to be produced in a half-hour format. It starred Robert Vaughn as Harry Rule, Nyree Dawn Porter as the Contessa Caroline di Contini, and Tony Anholt as Paul Buchet. Episodes often featured prominent guest actors.
The Protectors
1972 · 14 votes
TV7.0DramaThe Chief is a British crime drama transmitted on ITV from 20 April 1990 to 16 June 1995. Produced by Anglia Television, it centred on the politics at the top of a typical English police force in its continual battle to solve the problems the times, in this case the fictional Eastland of East Anglia.
The Chief
1990 · 2 votes
TV7.0DramaCrimeA crime drama set in Southampton following a team of detectives and the cases they solve.
Target
1977 · 4 votes
TV7.7DramaHamish Macbeth is a comedy-drama series made by BBC Scotland and first aired in 1995. It is loosely based on a series of mystery novels by M. C. Beaton. The series concerns a local police officer, Constable Hamish Macbeth in the fictitious town of Lochdubh on the west coast of Scotland. The titular character was played by Robert Carlyle. It ran for three series from 1995 to 1997, with the first two series having six episodes and the third having eight.
Hamish Macbeth
1995 · 17 votes
TV7.7CrimeDramaShoestring is a BBC detective drana set in Bristol and starring Trevor Eve as private detective Eddie Shoestring, who operatee his own show on Radio West, the local radio station. The programme ran between 30 September 1979 and 21 December 1980, in two series with 21 hour-long episodes. Eve opted not to return after two series, as he wanted to diversify into theatre, so the production team changed the setting to Jersey and created Bergerac, also following a detective returning to work after a bad period in his life.
Shoestring
1979 · 6 votes
TV7.3CrimeDramaStrangers is a 1978–82 ITV police procedural created and principally written by Murray Smith, based on characters created by Kenneth Royce in his novel series and subsequent 1977–78 television adaptation The XYY Man. Don Henderson and Dennis Blanch reprise their roles, respectively, of Detective Sergeant (DS) George Bulman and Detective Constable (DC) Derek Willis. A group of police officers are brought together from across the country to the north of England. There, the fact that they're not well-known gives them the advantage to infiltrate where a more familiar local detective could not. Despite being based around a comparatively small team of detectives, a regular feature in its early years is that few episodes feature the entire team, with most using just two or three regulars in any major role.
Strangers
1978 · 4 votes
TV6.3DramaYoung orphan Heathcliff is adopted by the wealthy Earnshaw family and moves into their estate, Wuthering Heights. Soon, the new resident falls for his compassionate foster sister, Cathy. The two share a remarkable bond that seems unbreakable until Cathy, feeling the pressure of social convention, suppresses her feelings and marries Edgar Linton, a man of means who befits her stature. Heathcliff vows to win her back.
Wuthering Heights
1978 · 4 votes
TV7.1DramaAction & AdventureMasada is a 1981 American historical drama television miniseries aired on ABC under the tentpole ABC Novel for Television. The screenplay by Joel Oliansky is based on Ernest Gann's 1971 novel The Antagonists. A dramatization of the historical siege of the Masada citadel in Roman Palestine by legions of the Roman Empire in AD 73. A siege that ended when the Roman armies entered the fortress, only to discover the mass suicide by the Jewish defenders when defeat became imminent.
Masada
1981 · 65 votes
TVCrimeDramaImplicated in an enquiry, maverick undercover DI Mick Raynor goes deep undercover to infiltrate dangerous criminal networks, often bending the rules in order to get results.
99-1
1994
- TV7.0Drama
Series of One-Off dramas produced by various companies for Channel 4.
4 Play
1989 · 1 votes
- TVDrama
The job of Velma Hardy and her Personality Promotions team is to put glamour into sales drives.
- TV7.0
Interlinked six episodes that focussed upon the separate lives of players at an amateur rugby club. A marvellous comedy drama that allowed an ensemble cast to each take their turn to shine. Written by the Oscar-winning Colin Welland.
The Wild West Show
1975 · 1 votes
- TV7.0KidsDrama
Mac Murphy takes charge as manager of a struggling fictional Third Division football club, Dunmore United. The series follows a group of young supporters of the club whose day-to-day troubles included attempts to set up a junior supporter's club and clubhouse within the stadium.
Murphy's Mob
1982 · 2 votes
Movies18
Movie7.6DramaHistoryIn the early years of the 20th century, Mohandas K. Gandhi, a British-trained lawyer, forsakes all worldly possessions to take up the cause of Indian independence. Faced with armed resistance from the British government, Gandhi adopts a policy of 'passive resistance', endeavouring to win freedom for his people without resorting to bloodshed.
Gandhi
1982 · 2.6K votes
Movie7.0AdventureComedyCaptain Etienne Navarre is a man on whose shoulders lies a cruel curse. Punished for loving each other, Navarre must become a wolf by night whilst his lover, Lady Isabeau, takes the form of a hawk by day. Together, with the thief Philippe Gaston, they must try to overthrow the corrupt Bishop and in doing so break the spell.
Ladyhawke
1985 · 1.3K votes
Movie7.2ThrillerDramaDavid Sumner, a mild-mannered academic from the United States, marries Amy, an Englishwoman. In order to escape a hectic stateside lifestyle, David and his wife relocate to the small town in rural Cornwall where Amy was raised. There, David is ostracized by the brutish men of the village, including Amy's old flame, Charlie. Eventually the taunts escalate.
Straw Dogs
1971 · 1.1K votes
Movie6.7WarDramaAt the start of World War I, Paul Baumer is a young German patriot, eager to fight. Indoctrinated with propaganda at school, he and his friends eagerly sign up for the army soon after graduation. But when the horrors of war soon become too much to bear, and as his friends die or become gravely wounded, Paul questions the sanity of fighting over a few hundreds yards of war-torn countryside.
All Quiet on the Western Front
1979 · 234 votes
Movie5.5AdventureDramaSet in the 1920s, several foreigners held by a South American military group are offered possible freedom if they accept to topple a local crazed military leader.
The Wrath of God
1972 · 30 votes
Movie4.6ComedyActionA woman attempts to escape her domestic problems by fleeing to New York in search of her father. She finds him, and also new problems, some friendship, a romance, and an unexpected career as pro-boxer, to make ends meet.
Blonde Fist
1991 · 10 votes
Movie7.5ActionDramaThe true story of the First world football competition, won by a team comprised of miners from Durham.
The World Cup: A Captain's Tale
1982 · 2 votes
Movie8.0TV MovieDramaStephen Milner is a solicitor, but he fits uneasily into the world of Lewis Strange and Partners, who are an upmarket firm of solicitors. The film follows Milner's fraught relationship with a lucrative client, Ron Jesson. When one of his offices goes up in flames, the press are convinced that Ron arranged the fire for insurance purposes. Milner also has to cope with an estranged wife, batty mother and debt ridden younger brother.
Milner
1994 · 2 votes
Movie7.0DocumentaryDocumentary about the making of Sam Peckinpah's 1971 film "Straw Dogs."
Mantrap – Straw Dogs: The Final Cut
2003 · 1 votes
Movie9.0DramaComedyJake lives in the shadow of his dying grandfather, who was once the town's toughest hard man. Despite their hatred of each other, Jake's sole aim is to be as tough as the old man was. One day in Jake's life, as he drifts, drinks and fights, leads to a bleak realisation.
Just a Boys' Game
1979 · 2 votes
Movie6.2ActionCrimeSecond theatrical spin-off from the popular 1970's police series. Regan and Carter head a Flying Squad investigation into a series of bank raids by a team of well-armed villains who are flying in from the continent.
Sweeney 2
1978 · 13 votes
Movie3.4DramaA bored teenage girl decides that she wants to meet rock stars, and the best way to do that is to become a groupie. She finds herself going on the road with a rock band called Opal Butterfly, and soon discovers that being a rock band's groupie isn't as glamorous or exciting as she thought it would be.
I Am a Groupie
1970 · 12 votes
Movie7.0DramaTV MovieThe first Play for Today is the story of one man's obsession (to win the world long distance piano playing record) and the battle for good (his wife) and evil (his agent) that rages around him.
The Long Distance Piano Player
1970 · 1 votes
Movie7.7DramaMysteryThree men at three different times in history come to Mow Top hill in search of sanctuary from their troubles. A Roman soldier, a medieval rebel and a 1970s young man. Somehow they seem linked through an energy within the hill and an axe. Is history doomed to repeat itself or can loving another person free them?
Red Shift
1978 · 5 votes
Movie8.4DramaComedyIt's the day of the Orange Parade in Glasgow, but for Jon, the thrill of leading the parade and swinging the mace soon turns to horror as he learns the truth behind the costumes and songs.
Just Another Saturday
1975 · 5 votes
Movie5.7ThrillerAfter she misses her train, a young woman is forced to hitch a ride back to town. After managing to get away from a lecherous trucker, she is given a ride by a good-looking but somewhat mysterious young man, who she comes to suspect may be a dangerous escapee from a mental asylum.
Deadly Strangers
1975 · 16 votes
Movie10.0DramaComedyThe inhabitants of a remote Scottish village live and learn.
As an Eilean
1993 · 1 votes
MovieDramaTV MovieSalesman Edie Cameron experiences setbacks in his work and personal life.