Valentine Dyall Movies

The first installment of the British mystery series based on the books by Agatha Christie, Miss Marple: The Body in the Library was first aired in 1984. In the village of St. Mary Mead, Miss Jane Marple (Joan Hickson) investigates the home of Colonel Arthur (Moray Watson) and Mrs. Dolly Bantry (Gwen Watford). The couple was shocked to discover the body of a dead girl wearing makeup and an evening gown in the library of their country manor, Gossington Hall. As soon as the police can identify her, another mysterious dead body is discovered. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

The four-part "Enlightenment" begins as the Doctor (Peter Davison), acting upon a warning from the White Guardian, materializes the TARDIS on the deck of a vessel which bears a striking resemblance to an Edwardian sailing yacht. The yacht is about to embark upon a race, the prize of which is dearly coveted by a rather nasty alien species known as the Eternals. Written by Barbara Clegg, "Enlightenment, Episode 1" first aired on March 1, 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The four-part Doctor Who adventure "Mawdryn Undead" begins on a seemingly arbitrary note, as a pair of juvenile delinquents go for a joyride in the Brigadier's vintage automobile. After the inevitable crash, one of the boys, actually a space alien named Vizlor Turlough (Mark Strickson), is recruited for a daunting assignment. The recruiter is the Black Guardian (Valentine Dyall); the assignment is to kill the Black Guardian's sworn enemy -- the Doctor (Peter Davison). Originally telecast on February 1, 1983, "Mawdryn Undead, Episode 1" was written by Peter Grimwade. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the third episode of the four-part story "Enlightenment," the Doctor (Peter Davison) must prevent the Eternals, a parasitic alien race, from winning an extraterrestrial yachting competition, thereby placing themselves in a position to rule the Universe. Complicating matters is Captain Wrack (Lynda Baron) of the space yacht Buccaneer, who has been anointed with awesome special powers by the Doctor's old nemesis, the Black Guardian (Valentine Dyall). Written by Barbara Clegg, "Enlightenment, Episode 3" first aired on March 8, 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the third episode of the four-part story "Mawdryn Undead," the Black Guardian (Valentine Dyall) continues to groom young Turlough (Peter Davison) to assassinate the Doctor (Peter Davison). Meanwhile, the crew of the TARDIS is subject to a daunting series of time-hopping misadventures that have been cleverly engineered by the villain. Originally telecast on February 8, 1983, "Mawdryn Undead, Episode 3" was written by Peter Grimwade. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Hand-picked by the Black Guardian (Valentine Dyall) to assassinate the Doctor (Peter Davison) in the previous adventure "Mawdryn Undead," juvenile delinquent Turlough (Mark Strickson) sets his deadly plan in motion in the four-episode follow-up "Terminus." Not yet under suspicion, Turlough materializes in the hold of the TARDIS -- then promptly proceeds to sabotage the vessel's console. First telecast on February 15, 1983, "Terminus, Episode 1" was written by Stephen Gallagher. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the conclusion of the four-part story "Terminus," the Doctor (Peter Davison) tries to wrest the TARDIS free from the space pattern of a disease-ridden space station -- and to avoid triggering a fuel dump that would result in "Event Two," aka the End of the Universe. With the help of a creature known as the Garm (R.J. Bell), the Doctor may well succeed in saving himself and his companions, including young Turlough (Mark Strickson), who may or may not still be determined to assassinate the Doctor on behalf of the Black Guardian (Valentine Dyall). First telecast on February 24, 1983, "Terminus, Episode 4" was written by Stephen Gallagher. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This dark comedy charts the chaos that results when the panicked staff of a major English hospital attempts to prepare for a visit by the Queen Mother, only to face every problem imaginable. Britannia Hospital clearly attempts to recapture the anarchic bite of director Lindsay Anderson's previous satires If... and O Lucky Man, but fails to achieve the same combination of intelligent political critique, comic lunacy, and skillful filmmaking. (Indeed, the three films are often considered a loosely linked trilogy, largely due to the presence in all three of lead Malcolm McDowell). The film does make a valiant effort, but its commentary on the poor, labor disputes, and the inhumanity of bureaucratic institutions mixes uneasily with the film's broader elements, like the experiments of a cartoonish mad scientist. The result is often quite entertaining on a scene-by-scene basis, but the film never reaches the level of delirious, farcical energy or satirical sharpness to which it clearly aspires. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

In the conclusion of the six-part story "The Armageddon Factor," the Doctor (Tom Baker) has discovered that Princess Astra (Lalla Ward) of the planet Atrios is, in fact, the much sought-after sixth element of the Key to Time. Armed with this knowledge, the Doctor and Romana (Mary Tamm) are at last able to reassemble the Key, thereby restoring the balance between universal Good and Evil. The one remaining fly in the ointment is the dreaded Black Guardian, who has a vested interest in upsetting that aforementioned balance. Capped by a surprising but logical ending (logical by the Doctor's standards, at any rate), "The Armageddon Factor" was written by Bob Baker and David Martin, and originally aired on February 24, 1979, as the final episode of Doctor Who's 16th season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

That matchless British farceur Spike Milligan stars in The Great McGonagall. The story concerns indigent Scotsman William McGonagall, who aspires to become Poet Laureate of Great Britain. McGonagall might have a better chance of accomplishing this if he had any talent, but he is hilariously inept. The plot is abandoned somewhere in the middle of the film in favor of a series of virtually unrelated comic episodes. Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan's onetime Goon Show cohort, steals the show in drag as a sexually voracious Queen Victoria! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A very popular and fondly remembered British TV series from the Swingin' Sixties, Freewheelers was a "boy's own adventure"-style actioner involving a band of intrepid teenagers. Linking up with a secret government agency, the kids did battle against an exhausting array of villains, beginning with Von Gelb, an ex-Nazi who tried to resuscitate the Third Reich from his motor-launch headquarters. Though played tongue in cheek and larger than life, the series seldom descended into outrageous camp. The large and ever changing cast of regulars included, at one time or another, Hammer Films stalwarts Geoffrey Toone and Michael Ripper, onetime Bugaloos ingenue Caroline Ellis, and future Doctor Who regular Wendy Padbury. Making its Southern Television debut on April 4, 1968, Freewheelers ultimately clocked in at a daunting 104 episodes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Years before the story proper in The Wrong Box gets under way, a "tontine" is drawn up on behalf several young British boys. Each of the boys' parents had placed 1000 pounds in a pool, to be invested and expanded upon. The resultant fortune will go to the last surving member of the tontine. A series of montages depicts the various demises of the heirs (our favorite occurs when one of them is inadvertently beheaded while being knighted by Queen Victoria). Finally, only two of the tontine participants are left: aged brothers Ralph Richardson and John Mills. On his last legs, Mills is determined that Richardson will not outlive him, and to that end attempts to kill his brother; each attempt fails spectacularly, with the doddering Richardson none the wiser. Standing to benefit from the tontine are Mills' dimwitted med-student son Michael Caine and Richardson's greedy nephews Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. When Richardson is supposedly killed in a train wreck, Cook and Moore don't want the authorities to find out, so they appropriate what they think is their uncle's corpse and ship it home in a box. Thus it is that Caine finds the body of a perfect stranger on his doorstep. The farcical complications begin flying about thick and fast from this point onward. Among the participants in this wacky gigglefest are such formidable talents as Peter Sellers, Tony Hancock, Wilfred Lawson, Thorley Walters, Norman Rossington, Irene Handl and Cicely Courtenedge. Based on a novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, The Wrong Box is a delightful harkback to the glory days of Britain's Ealing comedies. We were so wrapped up in the story that we didn't even notice all those TV antennae sprouting up on the rooftops of Victorian London. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide