Renny Rye Movies

Irreverent British comedian Paul Kaye unexpectedly turned out to be a credible romantic leading man on the BBC1 comedy-drama series 2000 Acres of Sky. The setting was the Scottish island of Ronansay, which housed a bed-and-breakfast and a small school, but little else. When the authorities threatened to close the school because it was two students shy of the required quota, the locals advertised in the London papers for a married-with-children couple to move to Ronansay and take charge of the "B and B." Although Abby Wallace (Michelle Collins) had the necessary two kids, she was bereft of a husband. Still, she needed the income, thus Abby persuaded her friend Kenny Marsh (Paul Kaye) to pose as her hubby and move with her to Ronansay. The first of the series' six 50-minute episodes was telecast on January 1, 2001. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

When the weekly, 50-minute British drama series Sunburn first aired on January 16, 1999, the action took place in Cyprus, and dealt with the men and women working for Janus Holidays, a successful British-owned travel agency. Upon launching its second season, the series shifted locales to Portugal, Janus' home office. In addition, several new cast members were introduced, among them the previously unseen but much-talked-about David Janus (Paul Nicholas). Michelle Collins starred as chief holiday representative Nicki Matthews, and all sang the series' title tune. Created by Mike Bullen, Sunburn ran for 14 episodes, the last of which aired over BBC1 in late 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The line between reality and fiction becomes increasingly blurred as an ailing screenwriter struggles with a story that seems to come to life before his eyes. A self-destructive loaner whose battle with pancreatic cancer has left him embittered and in great pain, Daniel Feeld (Albert Finney) decides to focus his attention on an a new screenplay entitled "Karaoke." A lurid tale concerning the murder of a young girl working in a seedy karaoke bar, the story soon begins to invade Feeld's reality when he overhears people speaking the dialogue that he had written and finds that the people working in a local karaoke dive not only share his character's names, but their lives as well. Drawn to the suspiciously familiar plight of hostess Sandra (Saffron Burrows), Feeld's suspicions of thuggish club-owner Arthur "Pig" Mallion (Hywel Bennett) begin to mount as Feeld increasingly questions both his health and sanity. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

This British parody is the last film of famed television writer Dennis Potter. The story centers upon a terribly tacky British horror film "Smoke Rings," which featured the screaming talents of the ambitious, sexy model and starlet Mandy Mason, who mysteriously died soon after the film was produced. U.S. producer James Boyce and his wife Amber, a Cockney fluffhead, are staying in a rented home in England. Amber's mother is Mandy Mason. Harris is the lawyer who found the rental for the Boyce's. His favorite film is "Smoke Rings," and he still has a crush on the late Miss Mason. When he attends a dinner with the Boyce's he is delighted to find that his favorite film is the midnight feature on the television. A few days later, Amber begins to exhibit disturbing behavior--behavior which parallels that of her mother, and of her mother's character in "Smoke Rings." ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Adapted from the novel by Noel Barber, the four-part British-Australian miniseries The Other Side of Paradise stars Jason Connery as idealistic 1930s physician Chris Masters. Hoping to find a new purpose in life, Masters heads to the tiny South Pacific island of Koraluna, to set up a modern hospital with crusty Doc Reid (Richard Wilson). The protagonist's dedication to his duties are sorely tested by a deadly polio epidemic, and even more so by the advent of WWII. Along the way, Masters enters into a three-cornered romance with Reid's daughter, Paula (Josephine Byrnes), and with Aleena (Vivien Tan), daughter of the island's native king. The Other Side of Paradise was telecast by Britain's Central Television and by Australia's 10 Network in 1992; the series was subsequently reissued in a two-part version. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The four-part One Moment in Time was another miniseries based on the works of H.E. Bates, of Country Matters fame. Set during WWII, the story centered upon Elizabeth (Alison Elliott), who threw caution and convention to the wind when she fell in love with RAF pilot Splodge (Robin Davies). Although some of the standard wartime romance clichés were in attendance, there were enough surprises to keep the audience awake and alert. One Moment in Time was broadcast in 1985 by the BBC. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Box of Delights, based on the children's book by English poet laureate John Masefield, was produced by the BBC, from a screenplay by Alan Seymour under director Renny Rye in mid-1984. Set in 1934, the six-part miniseries tells the story of young Kay Harker (Devin Stanfield), who, while on his way home from school to join his family for Christmas, meets an old Punch and Judy man named Cole Hawlings (Patrick Troughton), and then a pair of clergymen (Geoffrey Larder, Jonathan Stephens) who seem to have picked his pocket -- and all of whom seem to know all about Kay, who he is, and where he is going. Before long, he is in the center of a struggle for the title object, an artifact dating from pagan times that allows the holder to manipulate time and space. The evil Abner Brown (Robert Stephens) wants the box and will stop at nothing, including kidnapping and murder to get it, while Cole Hawlings, who is actually a 500-year-old alchemist, has sought out Kay's help to keep Brown and the forces he serves from stealing the box. Kay's adventures include a visit to an embattled Arthurian camp beset by wolves, an encounter with flying unicorns and other magical beasts, and other fantastic visions. Kay gradually comes to understand the magical world he has entered, but can he learn enough of the powers he controls before Abner -- who has embarked on a final great wickedness, culminating on Christmas Eve -- can succeed? ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi