David Blair Movies

Author Thomas Hardy's infamous novel is translated to the screen courtesy of director David Blair. Driven by poverty to claim kinship with the wealthy D'Urbervilles, beautiful innocent Tess Durbeyfield finds her ruse falling apart after crossing paths with the suspicious and highly manipulative Alec D'Urberville. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

An episode of the successful twenty-five year PBS anthology series Mystery!, Malice Aforethought tells the chilling story of Edmund Bickleigh (Ronnie Masterson), a physician who copes with irritations from his dominating wife by bedding numerous women from the town. This consummate philanderer decides to nudge his vileness one step further by simply eliminating his better half, with the help of a chest full of illicit, deadly drugs that will knock the poor woman out forever. Malice Aforethought co-stars Phyllis Ryan, Fiona O'Shaugnessy, and Barbara Flynn. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

In 1978, America's PBS made the wise decision of running the ten-part 1977 British adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's tragic novel Anna Karenina. Twenty-two years later, the Boston-based public TV station WGBH entered into another felicitous partnership with the BBC, and the result was a shorter (four-part), but no less vivid adaptation of the oft-filmed Tolstoy work. Naturally, the main emphasis was on the triangular relationship between the titular Anna (Helen McCrory), her influential older husband, Karenin (Stephen Dillane), and the handsome, but faithless Count Vronsky (Kevin McKidd), culminating in disgrace, ostracization, and finally death for the hapless heroine. This time, however, scriptwriter (Allan Cubitt) also gave plenty of air space to the fascinating subplots involving the characters of Levin (Douglas Henshall), Kitty (Paloma Baeza), Oblonsky (Mark Strong), and Dolly (Amanda Root). Filmed largely on-location in Poland (with several prominent Polish actors in the supporting cast), Anna Karenina made its British television bow on May 9, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

It's said that you can't take on City Hall, but one man takes a game stab at the bus company in this comedy-drama from the U.K. Donovan (Colin Firth) is a genial eccentric who arrives in the small Scottish town of Port Clyde and rents a room in the home of a woman named Lucy (Katy Murphy). Life has not been kind to Lucy; after the death of her mother, Lucy was left to care for her bother Sandy (David Brown), who is mentally retarded, and her grandmother (Liz Smith), who is slipping into senility. These days, Lucy finds solace in drinking and an affair with a married man, Clive (David O'Hara), who has an alcohol problem of his own but dreams of leaving his wife and his job for better things. Sandy attends a special school for the challenged, but when the local bus service decides to do away with the route he takes to class, Lucy has no idea of what to do for him. Donovan, however, sees an opportunity in this problem; he buys a bus and starts a one-vehicle transportation service of his own, asking his passengers to only pay what they can afford and hiring Sandy as his fare collector when he isn't busy at school. The people of Port Clyde take to Donovan's new bus service, but the local transit authorities aren't at all happy to have competition, and Donovan finds his new business in hot water. Donovan Quick was the first theatrical feature from director David Blair, who previously made a name for himself in British television productions. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The centerpiece of the four-part British miniseries A Mug's Game was an outmoded fish-processing plant in a Scottish coastal town. The local townsfolk, set in their ways, were naturally resentful when outsider McCaffrey (Ken Stott) arrived to modernize the plant and streamline its operation, the first step toward the parent company's efforts to globalize the industry. The only person willing to meet McCaffrey halfway was the widowed Kathy (Michelle Fairley), who lived in town with her extremely dysfunctional family. Things became complicated when Kathy switched her affections from McCaffrey to his ne'er-do-well nephew Con (Sean Harris). Originally broadcast by BBC1 in 1996, A Mug's Game was later shown in a three-part version on American cable TV. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Ken Stott starred in the seriocomic British series Takin' Over the Asylum. Stott was cast as unemployed disc jockey and salesman Eddie McKenna, who ended up volunteering to run a closed-circuit radio station in a Scottish mental institution. As expected, Eddie formed a strong bond with the inmates, much to the chagrin of the authorities. The winner of the coveted BAFTA TV award for Best Drama Serial, Takin' Over the Asylum was seen over BBC2 in six 50-minute increments in 1994. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi