Adrian Shergold Movies

Sally Hawkins and Rupert Penry-Jones star in this adaptation of the Jane Austin classic about a lovelorn woman who receives a second chance for true happiness. Anne Elliot was just nineteen when she fell hopelessly in love with dashing naval officer Frederick Wentworth, so when her family attempted to convince her that she was making a terrible mistake the smitten young woman hastily broke off her engagement. That decision has haunted her ever since, and despite the fact that nearly a decade has passed not a day goes by that Anne doesn't long for Frederick's embrace. Now, eight years later, Frederick has returned a highly decorated, and extremely wealthy military man. As every eligible woman in Anne's district swoons over the handsome and successful naval officer, the crestfallen young woman still holds out hope that Frederick will somehow find it in his heart to look beyond her youthful indecision, and give her a second shot at true love. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

The life and career of the last in a long line of highly praised British executioners is explored in this drama directed by Adrian Shergold and starring Timothy Spall in the role of Albert Pierrepoint. As a youth, Pierrepoint was discouraged from pursuing the family career by a mother who claimed that the horrific line of work spurned his father to take up drink before eventually ushering him to an early grave. Despite his father's adverse reaction to the job's more gruesome details, Albert still thinks that he has what it takes to make it as an executioner and is soon rising to the upper echelon of hangmen thanks to his speed on the job and unwavering humanity. Eventually called before General Montgomery so that he may employ his skills in dispensing the Nuremberg criminals, Pierrepoint earns the respect and admiration of his fellow Britons just as his experiences in Germany stir his increasingly troubled conscience and abolitionists set into motion a heated campaign aimed at bringing the practice of hanging to an end. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

The British miniseries Heat of the Sun was set in 1933. After several instances of insubordination, Scotland Yard supervisor Albert Tyburn (Trevor Eve) was discplined by being shipped off to the Nairobi, Kenya. While grappling with the resentment of his fellow expatriates, Tyburn endeavored to investigate the kidnappings and murders of several young people from a local mission. The detective's arrival coincided not only with a major annual ceremony, but also with an influx of suspicious-looking Germans, headed by one Max van der Vuurst (Joss Ackland). Telecast in three two-hour installments from January 28 to February 11, 1998, Heat of the Sun was a presentation of Carlton Television. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The winner of the Ivor Novello Award for Television Theme Music in 1994, director Adrian Shergold's spoof of wartime escape films tells the tale of a bumbling RAF Officer who plots the escape of 327 prisoners from a German POW camp. Few wartime prisoners have attempted escape quite as many times as RAF Officer James Forrester. Though Officer Forrester has twenty-three escape attempts to his name, each successive attempt he makes to break free somehow seems to go worse than the last. But this time there's a difference, because Officer Forrester isn't just plotting his own escape, but the escape of all 327 of his fellow prisoners as well - and all at once to boot. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

This refreshingly realistic British cop show starred David Jason as Detective Inspector William George "Jack" Frost of Denton, whose seeming indifference to orthodox police procedure, his carelessness in handling the paperwork necessary to his profession, and his ofttimes overbearing arrogance was but a smokescreen for his keen sense of observation and his dedication to his job. Bruce Alexander co-starred as Frost's uptight boss, Superintendent Norman Mullett, who, though constantly vexed by Frost's flippant attitude -- not to mention his profanely colorful vocabulary -- could not deny that Frost always got results, even while rubbing the higher-ups the wrong way. Others in Frost's orbit knew that the detective was at heart an old softie, with humanity and compassion oozing from every orifice. Among Frost's colleagues were WPC (and later DC) Hazel Wallace (Caroline Harker), DS George Toolan (John Lyons), and Sgt. Brady (James McKenna). Based on a series of novels by Ronald D. Wingfield, A Touch of Frost debuted over ITV1 on December 6, 1992. Turning out anywhere from three to six 120-minute episodes per season, the series remained in production throughout the first decade of the 21st century. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this mystery, Inspector Morse investigates the murder of an ex-police commissioner and discovers that it is linked to a death he looked into nearly twenty years before. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

A BBC production, Christabel was one of several British TV iniseries seen during the 1988-89 season of the PBS anthology series Masterpiece Theatre. Dennis Potter adapted the teleplay from Christabel Bielenberg's autobiography The Past is Myself. Elizabeth Hurley plays Christabel, a British woman married to a German lawyer. Part One of this four-part drama begins with the wedding in 1934; the couple settles in Berlin and raises a family. Four years later, the husband (Stephen Dillon), concerned over the day-to-day outrages committed by the Nazis, plans to move out of Germany, while Christabel, utterly disinterested in politics, wavers in her commitment to her husband's plans. In part two, Christabel, living in Europe at the outbreak of the war, worries about her parents in England, while her husband joins a pro-British organization and is eventually arrested for treason. Christabel was adapted for television by Dennis Potter, better known for his surrealistic British TV serials Pennies From Heaven and The Singing Detective. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Christabel was one of several multipart British TV productions seen during the 1988-89 season of PBS' Masterpiece Theatre. Dennis Potter adapted the teleplay from Christabel Bielenberg's autobiography The Past is Myself. Elizabeth Hurley plays Christabel, a British woman married to a German lawyer. Part One of this four-part drama begins with the wedding in 1934; the couple settles in Berlin and raises a family. Four years later, the husband (Stephen Dillon), concerned over the day-to-day outrages committed by the Nazis, plans to move out of Germany, while Christabel, utterly disinterested in politics, wavers in her commitment to her husband's plans. Christabel was first telecast February 18 and 26, and March 5 and 11, 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide