Richard Briers Filmography

Peter Pan

Actors: Jason Isaacs, Jeremy Sumpter, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Lynn Redgrave, Richard Briers, Olivia Williams, Ludivine Sagnier

Synopsis: Director P.J. Hogan (Muriel's Wedding, My Best Friend's Wedding) helms this live-action retelling of J.M. Barrie's classic children's play Peter Pan. Starring Jeremy Sumpter (Frailty) in the title role, the film follows the adventures of the Darling children, Wendy (Rachel Hurd-Wood), John (Harry Newell Read More

Unconditional Love

Actors: Kathy Bates, Rupert Everett, Meredith Eaton, Peter Sarsgaard, Lynn Redgrave

Synopsis: What's a middle-aged woman to do when her husband walks out on her and her favorite pop star is murdered by a serial killer? Writer/director P.J. Hogan explores this and many other pressing questions in Unconditional Love, a comic murder-mystery he devised with his wife and co-screenwriter, Jocelyn Moorhouse Read More

Love's Labour's Lost

Actors: Alessandro Nivola, Alicia Silverstone, Natascha McElhone, Kenneth Branagh, Carmen Ejogo

Synopsis: Actor/director Kenneth Branagh sets his screen version of Shakespeare's play in the 1930s, adding such classic songs as "They Can't Take That Away From Me," "The Way You Look Tonight," and "Let's Face the Music and Dance," and staging it in the manner of a Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers musical. The Read More

Escape to Watership Down

Actors: John Hurt, Richard Briers

Synopsis: Based on the best selling novel by author Richard Adams, Escape to Watership Down chronicles the adventures of a band of rebellious rabbits who have left their endangered dwelling in hopes of finding a new home across the English countryside. The composer for the 1978 feature film has returned in Read More

Watership Down

Actors: Kate Ashfield, Richard Briers, Sue Elliott-Nichols, Andrew Falvey, Dawn French

Synopsis: A British-Canadian coproduction (seen on ITV in Britain), Watership Down was a serialized TV cartoon version of Richard Adams' classic allegorical novel (previously filmed as an animated feature in 1978). The story concerned a group of rabbits who, after experiencing a vision of their warren's Read More

Journey to Watership Down

Synopsis: Based on the classic novel of the same name, 1978's Watership Down is one of the most beloved animated films of all time and receives a sequel in this 1999 release featuring the voices of John Hurt and Richard Briers. Journey to Watership Down centers on a group of rabbits and their adventures as Read More

Spice World

Actors: Spice Girls, Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm, Geri Halliwell, Victoria Adams, Richard E. Grant, Alan Cumming

Synopsis: Bob Spiers (director of TV's Absolutely Fabulous) directed this feature-film debut of the five Spice Girls -- Posh Spice, Sporty Spice, Scary Spice, Ginger Spice, and Baby Spice -- as the quintet challenges the London pop scene during five days before their first live performance at the Royal Read More

The Student Prince

Actors: Rupert Penry-Jones, Judy Cornwell, Tara Fitzgerald, Richard Briers

Synopsis: A sheltered prince learns valuable lessons of love while attending Cambridge University. Fortunately, his wise bodyguard is there to help him study. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Hamlet

Actors: Richard Attenborough, Kenneth Branagh, Julie Christie, Brian Blessed, Derek Jacobi, Kate Winslet, Richard Briers

Synopsis: At least the 22nd time William Shakespeare's most famous tragedy has been brought to the screen, Kenneth Branagh's film adaptation of Hamlet was the first to preserve Shakespeare's entire text, uncut and unabridged. Moving the action into the 19th century, Branagh cast himself in the title role Read More

The Adventures of Mole

Actors: Richard Briers, Peter Davison, Paul Eddington, Hugh Laurie

Synopsis: A followup to the 1995 animated special Mole's Christmas, The Adventures of Mole is one of a series of hour-long, British-made cartoons based on Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. In this one, the shy, bookish Mole develops a thirst for excitement. Accompanied by his new friend Rat Read More

In the Bleak Midwinter

Actors: Michael Maloney, Richard Briers, Mark Hadfield, Nicholas Farrell, Gerard Horan

Synopsis: When his professional career hits a lull, an actor attempts to revitalize his career by staging a production of Hamlet, directed by and starring himself. Director and star Kenneth Branagh would in fact release his own film version of Shakespeare's classic play a year later, but this comedy Read More

Skallagrigg

Actors: Bernard Hill, Kerry Noble, Tom Tomalin, Karl Purden

Synopsis: This film offers a glimpse into the abuse of disabled people in residential homes while also offering a look into the human spirit. The Skallagrigg is said to be "the mythical protector of disabled people," and 16 year old Esther who suffers from cerebral palsy wants to find him. Esther had lived Read More

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Actors: Robert De Niro, Kenneth Branagh, Tom Hulce, Helena Bonham Carter, Aidan Quinn, John Cleese

Synopsis: Director Kenneth Branagh's interpretation of Mary Shelley's classic horror novel stars Robert DeNiro as a terrifying monster created in an obsessive attempt to defeat death and stretch the limits of medicine in the early 19th century. With the use of flashback, a dying Dr. Viktor Frankenstein Read More

Classical Music Animations

Much Ado About Nothing

Actors: Kenneth Branagh, Michael Keaton, Robert Sean Leonard, Keanu Reeves, Emma Thompson

Synopsis: Actor Kenneth Branagh made his directorial debut with a rousing screen adaptation of William Shakespeare's Henry V. Four years later, he returns to the bard's work with this lively version of one of Shakespeare's best comedies. Don Pedro (Denzel Washington), the Prince of Aragon, returns Read More

Peter's Friends

Actors: Kenneth Branagh, Alphonsia Emmanuel, Emma Thompson, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Phyllida Law, Rita Rudner, Imelda Staunton

Synopsis: This comedy drama, a sort of British version of The Big Chill (1983), was directed by Kenneth Branagh. Ten years after they were members of a music and comedy troupe at Cambridge University, a diverse group of friends in their early 30s gather at the expansive estate of Peter Morton (Stephen Fry) Read More

Swan Song

Actors: Richard Briers, John Gielgud

Synopsis: Fresh from the success of Henry V and Dead Again, British actor/director Kenneth Branagh recharged his creative batteries with a 23-minute short subject. Swan Song is a faithful adaptation of a one-act play by Anton Chekhov. John Gielgud stars as an aging actor who, while sitting alone in a Read More

Mr. Bean: Mr. Bean

Actors: Rowan Atkinson

Synopsis: Rowan Atkinson stars as the incredibly clueless, accident-prone title character in this first of 13 half-hour Mr. Bean specials. The action is divided into three segments: In "The Exam," Mr. Bean hasn't got the answers; in "The Beach," he tries to change his trunks without removing his trousers; Read More

Henry V

Actors: Kenneth Branagh, Derek Jacobi, Brian Blessed, Ian Holm, Paul Scofield, Emma Thompson, Robbie Coltrane

Synopsis: Kenneth Branagh makes his feature film directorial debut with this adaptation of William Shakespeare's Henry V. After the Chorus (Derek Jacobi) introduces the play, young king of England Henry V (Kenneth Branagh) begins an angry dialogue with King Charles of France (Paul Scofield). The king's son Read More

A Chorus of Disapproval

Actors: Jeremy Irons, Anthony Hopkins, Prunella Scales, Jenny Seagrove, Sylvia Syms

Synopsis: Alan Ayckbourn's riotously funny play about a small-time acting troupe in the sticks is brought to the screen by director Michael Winner. Jeremy Irons plays Guy Jones, a mild-mannered flunky for an electronics firm who finds himself transferred to the British seaside town of Scarsborough. Bereft Read More

Doctor Who: Paradise Towers, Episode 2

Actors: Sylvester McCoy, Bonnie Langford, Richard Briers, Clive Merrison, Howard Cooke

Synopsis: In the second episode of the four-part story "Paradise Towers," the Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) and Mel (Bonnie Langford) have discovered that a once-prestigious apartment complex is now in control of several disreputable factions, among them the Kangs and the Caretakers. Hoping to protect the Read More

Doctor Who: Paradise Towers, Episode 1

Actors: Sylvester McCoy, Bonnie Langford, Astra Sheridan, Joseph Young, Annabel Yuresha

Synopsis: The Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) and Melanie (Bonnie Langford) decide to use the swimming pool at the Paradise Towers luxury-apartment complex. Unfortunately, the formerly award-winning complex has degenerated into a breeding ground for crime and vice -- and the current residents seem to be totally Read More

Doctor Who: Paradise Towers, Episode 3

Actors: Sylvester McCoy, Bonnie Langford, Elizabeth Spriggs, Clive Merrison, Annabel Yuresha

Synopsis: In the third episode of the four-part story "Paradise Towers," the residents of the titular apartment complex continue to be held in thrall by a malevolent -- and murderous -- superbrain known as the Great Architect Kroagnon, who, appalled at the untidiness of his customers, has dispatched the Read More

Twelfth Night

Actors: Frances Barber, Tim Barker, Richard Briers, Caroline Langrishe, Julian Gartside, Christopher Hollis

Synopsis: Part of the Thames Shakespeare Collection, this production of Twelfth Night was adapted for television by renowned actor and director Kenneth Branagh in 1988. Performed by the Renaissance Theatre Company, this classic comic tale of romance and confused identities features performances by acclaimed Read More

Doctor Who: Paradise Towers, Episode 4

Actors: Sylvester McCoy, Bonnie Langford, Richard Briers, Annabel Yuresha, Julie Brennon

Synopsis: In the conclusion of the four-part story "Paradise Towers," the Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) and Mel (Bonnie Langford) remain at the mercy of the Great Architect Kroagnon, the literal "brains" behind all the crime and carnage at the once-magnificent Paradise Towers apartment complex. Unfortunately Read More

The Aerodrome

Actors: Peter Firth, Richard Johnson, Richard Briers, Dominic Jephcott, Natalie Ogle

Synopsis: Aerodrome is a British black comedy set in the 1930s. A backwater English village is threatened with takeover by a fascist air force. It's the home guard to the rescue--sort of. Peter Firth, Richard Johnson, Jill Bennett, and Richard Briers head the cast. Produced for British TV in 1982, Aerodrome Read More

Norman Conquests, Part 2: Living Together

Synopsis: Part two of Alan Ayckbourn's Norman Conquests trilogy is subtitled "Living Together." Though not precisely a sequel to part one, part two finds Norman (Tom Conti) continuing his romantic pursuit of various female in-laws in the parlor of his family home. Heads of the household Richard Briers and Penelope Keith Read More

Norman Conquests, Part 1: Table Manners

Synopsis: Produced for British television, The Norman Conquests was based on a trilogy of stage comedies by Alan Ayckbourn. Each playlet is set in a different room under the same roof: the home of Norman (Tom Conti) and his family. In Part 1, Table Manners, Norman attempts to seduce his two sisters-in-law Read More

Norman Conquests, Part 3: Round & Round the Garden

Synopsis: Playwright Alan Ayckbourn's Norman Conquests trilogy comes to a conclusion with the 106-minute "Round and Round the Garden." Whereas part one took place in the dining room and part two was set in the garden, part three takes place in the garden of the home of Richard Briers and Penelope Keith. Read More

Watership Down

Actors: John Hurt, Richard Briers, Michael Graham Cox, John Bennett, Simon Cadell

Synopsis: Unique in the annals of animated films, Watership Down is a serious, even grim tale that many will find relentless and depressing and others will find poetic and moving. It doesn't pull any punches. Death -- violent, disturbing death -- is ever present, portrayed in a manner that is astonishingly Read More

Crystal Tipps and Alistair

Rentadick

Synopsis: In this pre-Monty Python parody of private-eye movies by Graham Chapman and John Cleese, someone has stolen nerve gas that paralyzes victims from the waist down. Now the bumbling boys at Rentadick, Inc. must find them before it is too late. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Ben Travers Farces

Actors: Richard Briers, Arthur Lowe, Irene Handl, Megs Jenkins, Frank Thornton

All the Way Up

Actors: Warren Mitchell, Pat Heywood, Elaine Taylor, Kenneth Cranham, Vanessa Howard

Synopsis: Warren Mitchell stars in All the Way Up as a dimwitted British salesman. Though a bit shy in the brains department, Mitchell has hopes of climbing the corporate ladder. To do this, he tries to whip his addled family into a semblance of social acceptability. This being a comedy, Mitchell soon Read More

Fathom

Actors: Anthony Franciosa, Raquel Welch, Ronald Fraser, Richard Briers, Greta Chi

Synopsis: Raquel Welch breaks the surly bonds of Earth and loves every minute of it in this lighthearted spy spoof. Fathom Harvill (Welch) is an American skydiver touring Europe with a U.S. parachute team when she's approached by Douglas Campbell (Ronald Fraser), a Scottish agent working with American Read More

The Bargee

Actors: Harry H. Corbett, Hugh Griffith, Eric Sykes, Ron Barker, Julia Foster

Synopsis: This British comedy comes from Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, writers of the hit television program Steptoe and Son. Harry H. Corbett (who played Steptoe, Jr. on the tube) is Hemel, a canal-cruising bargee who is dead-set against marriage. He goes about his freewheeling ways until he finds out that Read More

The V.I.P.'s

Actors: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Louis Jourdan, Elsa Martinelli, Margaret Rutherford, Maggie Smith

Synopsis: Terrence Rattigan, the playwright who brought us the multicharactered, multistoried Separate Tables, again offers us an episodic cross-section of humanity in The V.I.P.'s. When a heavy London fog paralyzes all air traffic, the lives of several people are profoundly affected. As indicated by the Read More

A Matter of Who

Actors: Terry-Thomas, Sonja Ziemann, Alex Nicol, Richard Briers, Honor Blackman, Guy Deghy

Synopsis: The "WHO" in A Matter of Who isn't a "who" but a "what". The word is an anagram for the World Health Organization, a curious subject for a British comedy--especially one which utilizes a communicable disease as a plot device! WHO operatives Terry-Thomas and Alex Nicol trace the outbreak of a Read More

Murder, She Said

Actors: Margaret Rutherford, Arthur Kennedy, Muriel Pavlow, James Robertson Justice, Charles "Bud" Tingwell

Synopsis: Dumpy, dough-faced British comedienne Margaret Rutherford was not precisely the physical type Agatha Christie had in mind for the prim, tweedish sleuth Miss Marple. Still, Rutherford's first "Marple" movie Murder, She Said did so well at the box office that there was no question she would continue Read More

The Girl on the Boat

Synopsis: Norman Wisdom does to P.G. Wodehouse in Girl on the Boat what Jerry Lewis did to Gore Vidal in Visit to a Small Planet. The zany Wisdom, put in charge of his aunt's cottage during an English summer in the roaring twenties, decides to invite several of his friends to his posh new digs. Among the Read More

Bottoms Up

Actors: Jimmy Edwards, Arthur Howard, Martita Hunt, Sydney Tafler, Raymond Huntley

Synopsis: British comic actor Jimmy Edwards demonstrates his versatility in Bottoms Up by playing a character named Jimmy Edwards. Actually, it's Professor Jim Edwards, doctor of dunderheads. In the tradition of Will Hay, Edwards tries to maintain decorum in the boys' school where he serves as headmaster Read More

Girls at Sea

Actors: Guy Rolfe, Ronald Shiner, Alan White, Michael Hordern, Anne Kimbell

Synopsis: The celebrated stage farce 3DThe Middle Watch3D was the basis of the maritime comedy 3DGirls at Sea3D. While briefly in port, the British battleship 3DScotia3D, hosts a wild party, brimming over with wine, women and more women. Three of the female revellers-Mary (Ann Kimball), Jill (Mary Read More

Adventures of Toad

Actors: Richard Briers, Peter Davison, Paul Eddington, Hugh Laurie

Synopsis: The sequel to the made-for-TV animated special Adventures of Mole, Adventures of Toad is one of several British-produced cartoons based on Kenneth Grahame's whimsical The Wind in the Willows. The lord of Toad Hall, capricious Mr. Toad is a source of great concern for his close friends Mole, Badger Read More

Funny Blokes of British Comedy

Synopsis: Duane Huey's The Funny Blokes of British Comedy features Lenny Henry presenting a series of clips of some of the most famous comics in British television. Included are Fawlty Towers clips featuring John Cleese, scenes from Father Ted with Ardal O'Hanlon, and memorable moments from Black Adder Read More