During the current clamour to re-appraise everything from the British sex comedy to the career of Sid James. There is one area of home-grown cinema which has remained neglected by the Sight And Sound, Ross Brothers and the Reynolds & Hearn axis. Namely the school of savage sub-Bunuelian satire which ran from about 1968-73. Lindsay Andersons vigo-influenced If, advocated teenage rebellion in a post-Paris riots culture, Peter Medaks’ The Ruling Class depicted the House Of Lords as a place literally filled with skeletons, rotting corpses and zombies, and Kevin Billingtons’ The Rise And Rise Of Michael Rimmer gave us Tony Blair 25 years before the event.

Filmed as the Thatcher-led Conservatives took power in this country, and at a time when gritty Euston Films productions filled our TV with images of violent and corrupt London, The Long Good Friday is the rawest, most energetic gangster picture since the heyday of Cagney and Bogart. Indeed, while Barrie Keeffe’s screenplay could certainly be described as neo-Shakespearian, the ‘downfall of a mob boss’ concept would be equally familiar to fans of Tommy-gun operas from the rain-soaked Warner Bros. circa 1931. A  matter compounded by the perfect casting of Hoskins in the lead role of Harold Shand -

Those who have seen the film Bronco Bullfrog will not have forgotten it. Made in 1969, it features real East End kids playing East End Kids and doing the sort of thing East End Kids of the time got up to. We are shown real stuff like the film’s star Del, out to impress on a first date, taking his girlfriend ‘up west’ on his new motorcycle. He decides that the West End cinema is a bit too pricey so instead takes her for a slap meal to a fancy restaurant – a Wimpy’s.

Tobe (Dustin Ingram) is a lonely teenager with a heart.  Due to his build, short-sightedness, anxiety, he falls into what the Americans call a geek and the subject for bullying.  Unable to find affection and love from girls his own age,  he takes to watching porn from the early eighties to find solace and relief  for his sexual tension.

I enter into a hotel lobby to meet the star of the BBC 3 hit comedy series, Mongrels, Nelson the Fox. He has requested that I don’t reveal the name or location of the hotel, as it is place that he likes to frequent on his own or with friends, to unwind and enjoy a selection of cakes and tea. All I can reveal is that it is a five star hotel in the heart of central London, renowned for their afternoon beverages.