Martin Clunes Movies

Martin Clunes and Julie Graham star in a sitcom about a romantic undertaker who turns to a popular dating service in hopes of finding true love. William Shawcross (Clunes) is a wonderful guy, the only problem is that most women seem reluctant to date a man with such a grim career. While undertaker William sees to it that people get a fitting exit out of this world, midwife Mary (Graham) does her best to bring new life in. When William sees Mary's dating service video and is instantly smitten by the smart and pretty midwife, the stage is set for a romance that covers all ground between life and death. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi

A presentation of ExxonMobil Masterpiece Theatre, Goodbye, Mr. Chips aired on PBS in October 2003. Based on the novel by James Hilton, this adaptation was directed by British filmmaker Stuart Orme. The story follows the life of beloved Latin schoolteacher Mr. Chipping (Martin Clunes). As a young man, he arrives at Brookfield boarding school in the 1880s. He makes friends German teacher Max Staefel (Conleth Hill) and marries the intelligent socialite Katherine Bridges (Victoria Hamilton). As his students grow to adore him, he's nicknamed "Mr. Chips" and given a promotion. However, he experiences years of sadness after Kathie dies in childbirth. Then WWI breaks out and his friend Staefel is forced to leave the school due to the fascist new headmaster, Ralston (Patrick Malahide). Finally, Mr. Chips reflects on his career at a retirement party. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

Veteran hack director Sidney J. Furie directs the silly straight-to-video comedy Rock My World. The aging stuffy English aristocrats Lord and Lady Foxley (Peter O'Toole and Joan Plowright) have fallen on hard times, so they loan out the use of their mansion to the American rock band Global Heresy. When the band's bass player mysteriously disappears, Nat (Alicia Silverstone) shows up to replace him. Then the servants don't show up, and the Foxleys are forced to pose and a maid and a butler in their own mansion. The culture class between the conservative English and the reckless Americans is played for comedy, leading to an ending where the power of rock & roll transforms both cultural groups. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

An innocent dinner invitation and a dogged inspector's murder investigation upend the easy life of a charming but roguish Oxford tutor (Martin Clunes). ~ TV Guide, Rovi

William Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) is on a cold streak. Not only is he writing for Philip Henslowe (Geoffrey Rush), owner of "The Rose," a theatre whose doors are about to be closed by sadistic creditors, but he's got a nasty case of writer's block. Shakespeare hasn't written a hit in years. In fact, he hasn't written much of anything recently. Thus, the Bard finds himself in quite a bind when Henslowe, desperate to stave off another round of hot-coals-to-feet application, stakes The Rose's solvency on Shakespeare's new comedy, "Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter." The problem is, "Romeo" is safely "locked away" in Shakespeare's head, which is to say that not a word of it is written. Meanwhile, the lovely Lady Viola (Gwyneth Paltrow) is an ardent theatre-goer -- scandalous for a woman of her breeding -- who especially admires Shakespeare's plays and, not incidentally, Bill himself. Alas, she's about to be sold as property into a loveless marriage by her mercenary father and shipped off to a Virginia tobacco plantation. But not before dressing up as a young man and winning the part of Romeo in the embryonic play. Shakespeare soon discovers the deception and goes along with it, using the blossoming love affair to ignite his muse. As William and Viola's romance grows in intensity and spirals towards its inevitable culmination, so, too, does the farcical comedy about Romeo and pirates transform into the timeless tragedy that is Romeo and Juliet. ~ Merle Bertrand, Rovi

This adaptation of three stories from Irvine Welsh's short-story collection of the same name reunites Annie Louise Ross, Kevin McKidd, and Ewen Bremner from the author's previous cinematic success, Trainspotting, which was also set in the author's native North Edinburgh. In the Kafka-esque "The Granton Star Cause," a lazy amateur footballer (Stephen McCole) has a very, very bad day that culminates in God (Maurice Roeves) turning him into an insect. In "A Soft Touch," a young husband and father (McKidd) finds his life disrupted when a psychotic neighbor (Gary McCormack) takes up with his wife (Michelle Gomez) and invades his wretched tenement. And in "The Acid House," a druggie low-life (Bremner) experiences a Freaky Friday-style body switch with the infant son of a pair of self-involved yuppies. After "The Granton Star Cause" was screened separately at the Edinburgh Film Festival, the completed film was shown at Cannes in 1998. The title is a play on the term "acid house," a form of sinister dance music that emerged in Chicago in the mid-'80s and helped fuel the formative years of England's rave culture. Former Doctor Who actor Maurice Roeves, who plays God in "The Granton Star Cause," also has cameos in the other two segments. Jemma Redgrave, niece of Lynn and Vanessa Redgrave and cousin of Natasha and Joely Richardon, appears in the title segment and lends her Bjork-haired visage to the film's poster. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

Tony (Neil Morrissey) arranges his roommate Gary's bachelor party after Gary (Martin Clunes) agrees to marry longtime girlfriend Dorothy (Caroline Quentin) in "Stag Night," the opening salvo of the sixth and final season of Men Behaving Badly. This episode is followed, perhaps inevitably, by "Wedding," with both prospective bride and prospective groom wondering if they're making the right move. In "Jealousy," Gary, Tony, Dorothy, and upstairs neighbor Deborah (Leslie Ash) take a weekend motor trip that is blighted by jealousy and an unshakeable smoking habit. "Watching TV" finds Gary, Dorothy, and Deborah seemingly ganging up on Tony during an evening in front of the tube. Gary and Dorothy visit a relationship counselor and Tony wants to get (mildly) kinky with Deborah in the next episode, "Ten." The following installment, "Sofa," revolves around Gary's reluctance to part with a favored piece of furniture. "Jingle B***s" features a Christmas celebration all but ruined by Gary. Though this last-named episode officially brought the series to a close, Men Behaving Badly returned for a trio of Christmas specials in 1998, "Performance" (will Gary and Dorothy have a baby?), "Gary in Love" (an eventful business trip to Worthing), and "Delivery" (Tony gets a job at the same time father-to-be Gary loses his). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The possibility that Gary (Martin Clunes) has gotten his girlfriend, Dorothy(Caroline Quentin), pregnant is at the forefront of "Babies," the opening episode of Men Behaving Badly's fourth season. Meanwhile, Gary's roommate, Tony (Neil Morrissey), comes to grief when he tries to spy on upstairs neighbor Deborah (Leslie Ash) in her undies. The season's second episode, "Infidelity," finds Gary trying to catch Dorothy cheating on him and Tony attempting to prove himself a Good Samaritan to Deborah. This is followed by "Pornography," all about a stash of dirty magazines and a disastrous dinner party. In "Three Girlfriends" Tony tries to juggle the affections of several girls at once while Gary must contend with a seemingly endless visit from his dad. "Drunk" offers the spectacle of Gary and Tony participating in their favorite pub's "Beers of the World" promotion. "In Bed With Dorothy" is predicated on Dorothy's appendix operation, Gary's sexual frustration, and Tony's apparent bad eyesight. And in the season finale, "Playing Away," Tony would rather pull his own tooth than visit a dentist -- but his stubbornness has fringe benefits when Dorothy offers to help ease his pain. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Having shifted networks from ITV to BBC, Men Behaving Badly opens its third season with the episode "Lovers," in which Gary (Martin Clunes) hopes to impress girlfriend Dorothy(Caroline Quentin) with his "vast" sexual experience, while Gary's lodger, Tony (Neil Morrissey), prepares to swoop down and claim upstairs neighbor Deborah (Leslie Ash), who has recently split up with her beau. The next episode, "Bed," is set in motion when Deborah suffers indigestion after one of Gary's exotic meals and ends up with Tony braving a heavy windstorm to mollify the ailing girl. "Casualties" finds Gary and Tony going to ridiculous lengths to keep Deborah from selling her flat and moving out of town. "Weekend" begins with Gary and Dorothy discussing their sexual fantasies and culminates with Tony landing a job as a bartender. In "Cleaning Lady," Dorothy regrets her demand that Gary hire someone to tidy up his messy flat, while Tony makes a somewhat radical job switch. And in the season's final episode, "Marriage," Gary tries to weasel out of his proposal to Dorothy while Tony uses electronic surveillance to find out why Deborah is attracted to someone else. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Two British war buddies who exceeded at entertaining their fellow troops on the battlefield attempt to take their act to the stage after being demobilized and returning to civilian life in this comedy starring Martin Clunes and Griff Rhys Jones. When fighting was at its most intense, Captain Ian Deasey (Jones) and Lance Corporal Dick Dobson (Clunes) played the clowns in order to raise the morale among their combat weary fellow soldiers. After four long years in the deserts of North Africa, however, Deasey and Dobson return to London, and realize they're not ready to stop entertaining. Before long, they're drawing big crowds at the Blue Parrot nightclub. But life back home is a bit more complicated than it was when they were in the military, and just as they're on the verge of breaking big, the two lovable buffoons find reality threatening to silence the laughter for good. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi