About this season
Movie critic Ian Nathan goes in search of the cinematically sublime and explores the ingredients that went into making a classic. With each episode devoted to a single film, their story will be told with detail, affection, looking for the truth behind the myth, and all the trials and triumphs that went into forging the classic.
Episodes (6)
1. The Ipcress Files
Aired 1 May 2025 • 44 min
One of the greatest spy films ever made, The Ipcress Files begins with a kindap, a killing and a cup of coffee.
2. Kind Hearts and Coronets
Aired 8 May 2025 • 44 min
Kind Hearts and Coronets is one of a kind, a superb pitch-black comedy about gentle serial killing.
3. The Dam Busters
Aired 15 May 2025 • 44 min
The Dam Busters begins in 1942, where a bespectacled man plays marbles with his children under a silver sky.
4. Scott of the Antarctic
Aired 22 May 2025 • 44 min
From Charles Frend, this 1948 drama tells the story of Robert Falcon Scott’s failed attempt to be the first to reach the South Pole.
5. Flash Gordon (1980)
Aired 29 May 2025 • 44 min
As Mike Hodges’ flamboyant science fiction epic and Queen’s iconic rock song declares, Flash Gordon will be the saviour of the universe.
6. Billy Liar
Aired 5 June 2025 • 44 min
Directed by John Schlesinger in 1963, Billy Liar is one of the signature films of the British New Wave, the dynamic naturalism of the sixties.