Patrick Lau Movies

Baroness Orczy's frequently filmed adventure novel The Scarlet Pimpernel has been the subject of two different British TV series, the second of which aired nearly half a century after the first. Debuting on BBC1 on January 24, 1999, the "new" Scarlet Pimpernel was, like its predecessor, set during the dark days of the French Revolution. The estimable Richard E. Grant starred as Sir Percy Blakeney, an insufferably haughty British dandy. Unbeknownst to virtually everyone (including his wife, Marguerite, played by American actress Elizabeth McGoven), Sir Percy spent his evenings in the guise of the dashing, fearless Scarlet Pimpernel, savior of many French noblepersons who would otherwise have been condemned to the guillotine by the Revolutionary Tribunal. Together with a small band of confederates, the "damn'd elusive Pimpernel" enjoyed nothing more than thoroughly confounding his perennial nemesis, the skulking Citizen Chauvelin (Martin Shaw). Though played with tongue firmly in cheek, the series boasted some pretty impressive fencing sequences, staged by the talented Terry Walsh. Six 90-minute episodes of The Scarlet Pimpernel were seen in Britain in weekly clusters of three each, the last one airing on November 1, 2000. The series was produced in association with the American A&E cable channel, which ran the six episodes on a monthly rather than weekly basis. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A doctor still dealing with the aftermath of war discovers the toll the war has taken at home in this miniseries based on the novel by A.J. Cronin. Dr. John Finlay (David Rintoul) is a physician who returns to the small Scottish town of Tannochbrae after serving in the Army as a medical officer during World War II. Finlay is still attempting to readjust to civilian life after witnessing the horrors of war as he goes back to his medical practice with his elderly colleague Dr. Alexander Cameron (Ian Bannen). While the irascible Cameron is the same as he's always been, Finlay soon discovers Tannochbrae is a very different place, as poverty and the hardships of the war have left their mark, and his fiancée opted to break off their engagement while he was away. As Finlay attempts to put his life back together, he also struggles to help rebuild his hometown while he treats the physical end emotional maladies of the people of Tannochbrae. Originally produced for British television, Dr. Finlay was first seen in America as part of the acclaimed PBS anthology series Masterpiece Theatre; Cronin's novel was also the basis of a British television series in the mid-'60s. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Countdown to War is a unique docudrama featuring actual private papers and diaries of the major players of World War II. Actor Ian McKellen portrays Hitler using recreated dialogue taken from the man himself. Behind-the-scenes events that predated the war are presented. Authentic meetings and debates give a sense of realism to the program. Alex Norton stars as Stalin, Michael Aldridge as Neville Chamberlain, Peter Vaughan as Hermann Göring, and Barrie Rutter enacts Mussolini. As the war looms, the decision-makers struggle to position themselves among the powerful. The result is a never-before-seen viewpoint that tells the real reasons behind the global confrontation. ~ Sarah Ing, Rovi

Presented by Britain's Granada Television, the weekly anthology Time for Murder consisted of six hour-long dramas with the emphasis on mystery and mayhem. Among the authors represented herein were such literary heavyweights as Fay Weldon and Antonia Fraser. Individual episode titles include "The Murders at Lynch Cross", "This Lightening Always Strikes Twice", "The Thirteenth Day of Christmas," and more. Time for Murder originally aired in 1985. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Made for British television, this film concerns a bizarre, out-of-the-way Yorkshire hotel and its mysterious inhabitants. ~ John Bush, Rovi