Freeview films of the day : saturday 1st of February

Made In Dagenham (2010 108min.) [BBC2 9.15pm]

Comedy drama based on a true story, starring Sally Hawkins, Bob Hoskins and Miranda Richardson. In 1968, workers at the Ford auto plant in Dagenham - one of the biggest employers in the UK - go on strike, demanding equal rights for female staff. The unassuming Rita O'Grady finds herself at the centre of a movement that is destined to change the lives of women for years to come.

A timely reminder of what the British film industry can do apart from frocks'n'bonnets literary adaptations, alleged comedy films with floppy haired posh people and soft-hearted dramas about the elderly.

The always excellent Sally Hawkins leads a solid gold cast : Bob Hoskins, Miranda Richardson (note perfect as Labour legend Barbara Castle), Daniel Mays, Rosamund Pike, John Sessions (as Harold Wilson), Rupert Graves, Geraldine James and even Toby off of The West Wing and Trigger off of OFAH all pop-up at various points.

A warm, witty, affectionate slice of social history focussing on one of the pivitol moments in the development of British society with a well-realised sense of time and place and a script that makes its points well without feeling the need to bash you about the head with them constantly.
Thoroughly recommended.


Comfort And Joy (1984 100min.) ( [BBC2 1.00am sunday]
(start time subject to the Davis Cup tennis finishing on time)

Comedy starring Bill Paterson. The peaceful life of a Scottish disc jockey is shattered when his partner abruptly leaves him. He then becomes involved in the feud between two families who are out to control Glasgow's ice-cream business.

Wonderfully eccentric film from Bill Forsyth - up there with Local Hero as his best work.