Film Archive (71)

"Unfortunately I misjudged you, you are just a stupid police man... " When Joseph Wise's Dr. No character dismissed Sean Connery's James Bond with these words in October 1962, he also targeted the risky task that producers Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman had taken on in trying to bring Ian Fleming's wildly popular 007 to the screen. Along with director Terrence Young and Connery, the Eon Productions team succeeded beyond all expectations, catapulting Fleming's character into not only the biggest screen franchise in history but a pop icon of the first degree.

The Hero Myth is marbled throughout all cultures and all ages, it's part of the fabric of human civilisation. There are Freudian, Jungian and other various anthropological links to this myth everywhere from the beginning of recorded history.

In the 20th and 21st centuries nowhere has the classic myth of the superhero who will save us from evil, while making his own painful journey, been more evident than in the comic book

The archetypal encounter between Holmes and the curse of the Baskervilles is perhaps the best known of the consulting detective's adventure and most adapted for film, television, novel and radio. In brief, the story centres around Holmes and his ever trusty assistant, Watson, who together investigate the curse of Baskerville, a hound from hell seeking revenge on any member of the Baskerville family, and their task is to protect the newly adopted country squire Sir Henry Baskerville (just arrived from the USA). All set in the beautiful backdrop of Dartmoor, it is a classic story of murder, deception, red herrings, folklore and suspense, scattered with a host of suspects resulting in a climatic ending where the villain is unmasked and Baker Street's finest faces the evil hound.

Never one to pander to the expectations of an audience, Sean Hughes opens a show about the death of his father by ambling on stage dressed as a jockey who has just won the Derby. Within minutes he has co-opted a supporting cast from members of the audience and introduced a comedy show that's rooted in one of life's most charged situations – the loss of a parent.

It is one o'clock in the morning, you are restless with eyes wide open and your once familiar and safe bedroom now seems like an unknown place as the shadow of the wardrobe towers over you. Suddenly the silence of the night is broken when you hear a creak on the stairs, it startles you, but you reassure yourself that it's the water pipes, and then hear it again but this time it's louder. Like a scared child you pull the duvet over your head, as the anxiety kicks in, as the creak becomes thunderously loud drawing nearer.....