Judy Parfitt Movies

The Gravy Train was the first of two British miniseries focusing on the seriocomic misadventures of Dorfman (Christoph Waltz), a new member of the European Economic Council. Embarking upon his diplomatic career with stars in his eyes, Dorfman was quickly disillusioned by the infighting, pettiness, and flat-out greed indigenous to the Council's headquarters in Brussels. Written by Malcolm Bradbury, The Gravy Train yielded four hour-long episodes, which aired over Britain's Channel Four from June 27 to July 8, 1990. The series proved successful enough to warrant a 1991 sequel, The Gravy Train Goes East. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jessica (Angela Lansbury) travels to Moscow to attend the International Artists and Writers Conference. No sooner has she arrived that someone steals her purse--and when the police catch up with the thief, they find a role of microfilm amongst Jessica's belongings. Immediately, the KGB accuses our heroine of being a spy--which doesn't anger her quite as much as the subsequent murder accusation leveled at an old friend. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Director James Ivory brings his subdued, "Masterpiece Theater" style to a forbidden subject -- homosexual love. Maurice is based on E.M. Forster's suppressed 1914 novel that was held back from publication until after his death. The film takes place at Cambridge, before World War I, when homosexuality was outlawed in Great Britain. Clive (Hugh Grant), an aristocratic Englishman with a life of privilege, suddenly shocks his close friend Maurice (James Wilby) by declaring his love for him. Maurice is initially stunned by the pronouncement, but in the end finds himself giving Clive a passionate kiss and telling him that he loves him as well. Clive, in the stiff-upper-lip British manner, considers their love to be more of an intellectual concept, but Maurice becomes passionate about the affair. Clive, afraid of being exposed as a homosexual, backs off and breaks up with Maurice for marriage, family, and politics. Maurice is crestfallen, but then he has a passionate affair with Clive's gamekeeper, Scudder (Rupert Graves), and Maurice and Scudder decide to risk their reputations by openly living together as lovers. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

The Chain is linked by a series of moves. As one couple moves out of their current residence to live in posher quarters, another moves in, and so it goes all the way up to the lavish mansioned owned by self-made millionaire Leo McKern. The cycle starts all over again when McKern, wishing to be closer to his roots, returns to the working-class neighborhood whence he came. Each move is wryly commented upon by the team of professional movers headed by Warren Mitchell. The enormously gifted British cast includes Billie Whitelaw, Nigel Hawthorne, Maurice Denham, Denis Lawson, Phyllis Logan, and David Troughton. This multistoried seriocomedy is at its best a fond throwback to the Ealing films of the 1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The four-part British miniseries Malice Aforethought was based on a 1931 British crime novel, which in its time was considered innovative in that it revealed the identity and motive of the murderer from the outset (though this device had previously been used in a number of stage plays). The TV version starred Hywel Bennett as Dr. Edmund Bickleigh, a neurotic, class-conscious general practitioner living and working in the Devonshire community of Wyvern's Cross. Saddled with a nagging and faithless wife (Judy Parfitt), Dr. Bickleigh formulated a complex scheme to do away with the woman in a way that would not only deflect suspicion from himself, but also lead his friends and neighbors to the conclusion that she richly deserved her demise. Along the way, Bickleigh fell in love with the much-younger Gwynfryd (Cheryl Campbell), who was left completely in the dark so far as his murder plan was concerned -- a blissful ignorance which would, alas, have tragic consequences for the poor girl. Malice Aforethought aired over the BBC in 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Mind of Mr. Soames can be described as a melodramatic Charly. John Soames (Terence Stamp) is a hospital patient who has been in a coma for 30 years. Doctor Bergen (Robert Vaughn) attempts to revitalize Soames by transplanting an infant's brain in the patient's head. When Soames awakens, he has the mental capacity of a baby, but Dr. Bergen is certain that he can accelerate the maturation process, which he does in a matter of weeks. But the pressure on Soames' emotional stability is such that he tragically snaps during a live TV broadcast. Adapted from a novel by Charles Eric Maine, The Mind of Mr. Soames raises more questions than it can possibly answer, but works well on the level of solid science fiction. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This exotically titled Avengers episode is a working of the 1962 "Cathy Gale" installment "The Big Thinker." The title character is a highly advanced computer that is "murdered" by a shotgun blast. The perpetrator of this outrage would seem to be the creator of the computer, but Steed thinks otherwise; as a result, Tara poses as the creator's American niece, in hopes of rooting out the actual culprit. Written by Tony Williamson, "Whoever Shot Poor George Oblique Stroke XR40?" made its TV debut in America on October 30, 1968, followed by its British TV bow on December 9 of that same year. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

How could anyone steal a huge albino elephant? To solve the mystery, Cathy poses as a hunter and pays a visit to Noah's Arc, a game preserve specializing in supplying animals to zoos. Meanwhile, Steed picks up a few stray clues, including a most unusual pair of handcuffs. Written by John Lucarotti, "The White Elephant" was originally broadcast in England on January 4, 1964; it made its American cable TV debut over 27 years later, on March 22, 1991. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Going undercover, Cathy Gale joins the board of directors of a highly suspicious munitions firm. It's all part of a master scheme to infiltrate an organization specializing in smuggling and assassination. But before she can put all the pieces together and trap the head villains, Cathy is herself targetted for elimination -- which, curiously enough, was her partner Steed's intention all along. Originally telecast October 20, 1962, "Bullseye" was written by Eric Paice. The episode made its first American appearance on January 30, 1991. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide