If you love old films then there really is only one television channel in the UK to watch, Talking Pictures TV. It’s full of rarely seen films along with many classics with the likes of Peter Sellers, Stanley Baker, Dirk Bogarde, Alastair Sim & Will Hay for instance.
Plus comedy from the great Laurel and Hardy. But that’s not all as they also show old TV series such as Scotland Yard, Public Eye, The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre, The Gentle Touch & A Family At War.
Where can I watch classic films?
Talking Pictures TV in the UK has a wide selection of classic films and television. It’s available on Sky 328 | Virgin 445 | Freeview 81 | Freesat 306
Talking Pictures TV –
These are the highlights for this month:
| Day | Date | Time | Film / TV Series | Info |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon | 29/11/2021 | 23.05 | To Die For (1994) | Drama. Director: Gus Van Sant. Starring: Nicole Kidman, Matt Dillon & Joaquin Phoenix. A naive aspiring television personality films a documentary on teenagers with a darker ulterior motive. |
| Tue | 30/11/2021 | 22:15 | The Girl In The Picture (1985) | Comedy. Directed by Cary Parker. Stars John Gordon Sinclair, Irina Brook & Gregor Fisher. A light-hearted look at the trials and tribulations of love at a Glaswegian photographic studio. |
| Wed | 01/12/2021 | 01:55 | Johnny Come Lately (1943) | Drama. Directed by William K. Howard. Stars: James Cagney, Grace George & Marjorie Main. In 1906, a drifter arrives in Plattsville USA and takes over as editor of the local newspaper. |
| 15:05 | Lifeboat (1944) | Drama. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Stars Tallulah Bankhead, William Bendix & Walter Slezak. Survivors of a torpedo ship attack find themselves in the same boat with the man who sank them. | ||
| 17:00 | No Hiding Place - Death on The Doorstep | 1963. Stars Raymond Francis, Eric Lander, Kevin Stoney, Viola Keats, Nicolette Roeg. Lockhart has to unravel a web of deceit and blackmail in London's theatre land. | ||
| Thu | 02/12/2021 | 00:05 | Island of Terror (1966) | Horror. Director: Terence Fisher. Stars Peter Cushing, Carole Gray & Eddie Byrne. An isolated community on a remote island is in danger after a creature that can dissolve bones is unleashed. |
| 02:00 | Tormented (1960) | Horror. Directed by Bert I. Gordon. Stars Richard Carlson, Susan Gordon & Lugene Sanders. A man lets his interfering former flame fall to her death, but her ghost returns to cause trouble. | ||
| 14:40 | Escape By Night (1953) | Crime. Directed by John Gilling. Stars Bonar Colleano, Sid James, Andrew Ray, Ted Ray, Simone Silva. An ace reporter with a drinking problem tracks a gangster on the run. | ||
| 21:00 | The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965) | Drama. Directed by Martin Ritt. Starring Richard Burton, Claire Bloom & Oskar Werner. During the cold war, a British spy is caught in a sinister labyrinth of plots and counter-plots. | ||
| Fri | 03/12/2021 | 01:05 | Death Line (1972) | Horror. Director: Gary Sherman. Stars: Donald Pleasence, Norman Rossington and Christopher Lee. Two London students find themselves involved in the case of a missing man. |
| 06:00 | The Music Box (1932) | Comedy. Director: James Parrott. Stars Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Billy Gilbert, Gladys Gale & Charlie Hall. Laurel and Hardy deliver a piano, but struggle to carry it up a flight of stairs. | ||
| 11:50 | House of Strangers (1949) | Thriller. Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Stars Edward G. Robinson, Susan Hayward & Richard Conte. A banker scarred by betrayal, vows revenge against his family after being released from prison. | ||
| 20:00 | Quatermass | Lovely Lightning. 1979. Stars John Mills, Quatermass & Annie Morgan take Isabel, survivor of the incident at Ringstone Round to London. | ||
| 21:05 | The Blood On Satan's Claw (1971) | Horror. Directed by Piers Haggard. Stars Patrick Wymark, Michele Dotrice & Linda Hayden. A village in 17th Century England becomes plagued by children who are converting into Devil worshippers. | ||
| 23:05 | Carnival of Souls (1962) | Horror. Director: Herk Harvey. Stars Candace Hilligoss, & Frances Feist. After surviving a car accident, Mary takes a job as a church organist, but is interrupted by visions of a fiendish man. | ||
| Sat | 04/12/2021 | 00:45 | The Screaming Skull (1958) | Horror. Directed by Alex Nicol. Stars John Hudson, Peggy Webber & Russ Conway. A newly married woman experiences strange events at the home of her husband's late wife, but is she going mad? |
| 02:15 | Lust For a Vampire (1971) | Horror. Director: Jimmy Sangster. Stars: Yutte Stensgaard, Ralph Bates & Barbara Jefford. In 1830, Mircalla arrives at a finishing school when a visiting author falls in love with her. | ||
| 09:00 | Hawkeye & the Last of the Mohicans | Crime. Directed by Basil Dearden. Stars Dirk Bogarde, Jack Warner & Jimmy Hanley. A killer shoots a London policeman during a robbery. | ||
| 09:30 | The Roy Rogers Show | |||
| 10:00 | Phantom Creeps | |||
| 10:25 | Tim Driscoll's Donkey (1955) | Family. Directed by Terry Bishop. Stars John Kelly, Peggy Marshall & Carole Lorimer. The story of an orphan and his various misadventures with his beloved donkey. | ||
| 13:15 | The Frogmen (1951) | Adventure. Director: Lloyd Bacon. Stars: Richard Widmark, Robert Wagner, Dana Andrews. A U.S. Navy underwater team is assigned to destroy a submarine base on a Japanese held island. | ||
| Sun | 05/12/2021 | 10:00 | Great Day In The Morning (1956) | Western. A gambler wins a hotel in a card game but finds himself involved with women and the start of the civil war. Starring Robert Stack, Virginia Mayo & Ruth Roman. |
| Mon | 06/12/2021 | 15:00 | Brighton Rock (1947) | Crime Drama. Directed by John Boulting. Stars Richard Attenborough & Hermione Baddeley. Small time gang leader, Pinkie Brown, desperately tries to cover his tracks after he murders a journalist. |
| 22:50 | Silver Bears (1978) | Thriller. Directed by Ivan Passer. Stars Cybill Shepherd, Michael Caine, Louis Jourdan, Stephane Audran, David Warner, Tom Smothers & Martin Balsam. Double dealing in the world's silver market. | ||
| Tue | 07/12/2021 | 18:30 | Snowball (1960) | Crime. Directed by Pat Jackson. Stars Gordon Jackson, Kenneth Griffith, Zena Walker and Dennis Waterman. After forgetting his ticket, a devious young boy, causes trouble for the conductor. |
| Wed | 08/12/2021 | 21:05 | An Innocent Man (1989) | Crime Drama. Directed by Peter Yates. Stars Tom Selleck, F. Murray Abraham & Laila Robins. Two corrupt cops send an innocent man to prison, leading him to seek revenge on his release. |
| Thu | 09/12/2021 | 00:05 | The Blood On Satan's Claw (1971) | Horror. Directed by Piers Haggard. Stars Patrick Wymark, Michele Dotrice & Linda Hayden. A village in 17th Century England becomes plagued by children who are converting into Devil worshippers. |
| 16:20 | Nurse on Wheels (1963) | Comedy. Director: Gerald Thomas. Stars Juliet Mills, Ronald Lewis, Joan Sims. Quietly competent young Joanna moves to a country village to take up her first job as District Nurse. | ||
| Fri | 10/12/2021 | 18:00 | From Soup To Nuts (1928) | Comedy. Director: E. Livingston Kennedy. Stars: Laurel & Hardy. Stan and Ollie are the inexperienced waiters at a swanky upper class dinner party. |
| 20:00 | Quatermass | What Lies Beneath. 1979. Directed by: Piers Haggard. Stars: John Mills, Simon MacCorkindale & Margaret Tyzack. Quatermass meets an elderly scientist who may help solve the growing mystery. | ||
| 21:05 | Candle For The Devil (1973) | Horror. Directed By Eugenio Martin. Stars Judy Geeson, Aurora Bautista & Esperanza Roy. Two sisters run a hotel in Spain and prey upon tourists that do not meet their strict religious standards. | ||
| 22:55 | Vampire Circus (1971) | Horror. Directed by Robert Young. Stars Adrienne Corri, Anthony Higgins & John Moulder-Brown. A dying vampire swears vengeance on the local townsfolk. | ||
| Sat | 11/12/2021 | 09:00 | Hawkeye & the Last of the Mohicans | |
| 10:50 | Phantom Creeps | |||
| 13:10 | Charlie Chan at the Circus (1936) | Crime Drama. Directed by Harry Lachman. Stars Warner Oland, Keye Luke & George Brasno. Charlie Chan visits a circus with his family, arriving just in time to investigate a murder. | ||
| 20:45 | The Desperate Hours (1955) | Thriller. Director: William Wyler. Stars Humphrey Bogart, Fredric March, Arthur Kennedy & Martha Scott. Escaped criminals hold a family hostage. | ||
| Sun | 12/12/2021 | 10:00 | Christopher Columbus (1949) | Drama. Director: David MacDonald. Starring: Fredric March, Florence Eldridge, Francis L. Sullivan and Kathleen Ryan. Explorer Columbus intends to travel to the East by sailing west. |
| 12:00 | Doctor In Clover (1966) | Comedy. Directed by Ralph Thomas. Stars James Robertson Justice, Leslie Phillips, Shirley Anne Field. Gaston Grimsdyke enrols on a medical course run by Sir Lancelot Spratt. | ||
| 19:00 | Bus Stop (1956) | Romantic Comedy. Directed by Joshua Logan. Stars Marilyn Monroe, Don Murray & Arthur O'Connell. A cowboy falls in love with a saloon singer and tries to take her with him to his Montana ranch. | ||
| Mon | 13/12/2021 | 06:00 | The Atomic City (1952) | Thriller. Directed by Jerry Hopper. Stars Gene Barry & Lydia Clarke. After physicist Dr. Addison discovers that his son has been kidnapped, he receives a series of telegrams with instructions. |
| 23:00 | Rasputin the Mad Monk (1966) | Drama. Director: Don Sharp. Stars Christopher Lee, Barbara Shelley, Francis Matthews. Rasputin heals the sick wife of an innkeeper. | ||
| Tue | 14/12/2021 | 18:30 | Serena (1962) | Drama. Directed by Peter Maxwell. Starring Patrick Holt, Emrys Jones & Honor Blackman. An inspector strives to solve the mystery of an artist's dead wife. The artist becomes the main suspect. |
| Wed | 15/12/2021 | 01:20 | The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959) | Horror. Directed by Terence Fisher Stars: Anton Diffring, Hazel Court, Christopher Lee. An artist in 1890 Paris stays young by periodically replacing a gland with that of a living person. |
| 10:30 | Charlie Chan at the Circus (1936) | Crime Drama. Directed by Harry Lachman. Stars Warner Oland, Keye Luke & George Brasno. Charlie Chan visits a circus with his family, arriving just in time to investigate a murder. | ||
| 21:05 | Steptoe and Son (1972) | Comedy. Directed by Cliff Owen. Stars Wilfrid Brambell, Harry H. Corbett & Carolyn Seymour. After trying to avoid his father's influences, trouble awaits when Harold decides to get married. | ||
| Thu | 16/12/2021 | 00:05 | Candle For The Devil (1973) | Horror. Directed By Eugenio Martin. Stars Judy Geeson, Aurora Bautista & Esperanza Roy. Two sisters run a hotel in Spain and prey upon tourists that do not meet their strict religious standards. |
| 16:20 | Young and Innocent (1937) | Drama. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Stars Nova Pilbeam, Derrick De Marney, & Percy Marmont. A man on the run from a murder charge asks a young woman for help and to put herself at risk for him. | ||
| Fri | 17/12/2021 | 14:55 | Doctor In Distress (1963) | Comedy. Directed by Ralph Thomas. Stars Dirk Bogarde, James Robertson Justice & Samantha Eggar. Dr. Simon Sparrow's love life improves when the lovely Delia Mallory is brought into casualty. |
| 20:00 | Quatermass | An Endangered Species. 1979. Stars John Mills, Simon MacCorkindale, Brewster Mason. Kapp attempts to repair his equipment in order to contact the alien presence. | ||
| 21:05 | I Bought a Vampire Motorcycle (1990) | Horror. Directed by Dirk Campbell. Stars Neil Morrissey, Amanda Noar & Michael Elphick. A motorbike gang kill an occultist, resulting in the evil spirit he was summoning to inhabit a bike. | ||
| 23:15 | Virgin Witch (1972) | Horror. Directed by Ray Austin. Stars Ann Michelle, Vicki Michelle & Keith Buckley. Two women travel to a remote castle to land a contract in the modelling agency of the mysterious Sybil Waite. | ||
| Sat | 18/12/2021 | 06:00 | Phantom From Space (1953) | Sci-Fi. Directed by W Lee Wilder. Stars Ted Cooper, Noreen Nash, Dick Sands & Burt Wenland. A radioactive alien crash lands on Earth near a LA laboratory. His arrival attracts much attention. |
| 07:30 | Fire Maidens From Outerspace (1956) | Sci-Fi comedy. Spacemen land on the 13th Moon of Jupiter and find man-hungry space girls waiting for them. Stars: Harry Fowler, Paul Carpenter & Sydney Tafler. | ||
| 09:00 | Hawkeye & the Last of the Mohicans | |||
| 09:30 | That's An Order (1954) | Family. Directed by John Irwin. Stars Peter Butterworth. Short comedy film about an inefficient grocer's boy and his passion for eating. | ||
| 11:05 | Phantom Creeps | |||
| Sun | 19/12/2021 | 17:00 | The Dickie Henderson Show | 1963. Stars Dickie Henderson & June Laverick. Newly found episode of the comedy series centred around a British household with Dickie Henderson being the head of the family. |
| 19:00 | The October Man (1947) | Crime. Director: Roy Ward Baker. Stars: John Mills, Edward Chapman, Joan Greenwood. A man is suspected of murder, and due to a previous brain injury, he begins to doubt his own innocence. | ||
| Mon | 20/12/2021 | 11:45 | Cone of Silence (1960) | Drama. Director: Charles Frend. Stars Michael Craig, Peter Cushing & Bernard Lee. A veteran pilot faces a court inquiry after a jet airliner crashes. His daughter fights to clear his name. |
| 21:00 | Doomwatch (1972) | Horror. Directed by Peter Sasdy. Stars Ian Bannen, Judy Geeson & John Paul. Island waters are contaminated by chemical dumping, those who eat fish caught there become deformed and violent. | ||
| Tue | 21/12/2021 | 09:15 | Christmas Carols in 1947 | Glimpses: Join us in a Christmas Carol sing along filmed in 1947. |
| 11:35 | The Perfect Woman (1949) | Comedy. Director: Bernard Knowles. Starring: Patricia Roc, Stanley Holloway, Nigel Patrick & Miles Malleson. A scientist creates a robot woman. | ||
| 23:35 | The Beachcomber (1954) | Comedy-drama. Directed by Muriel Box and starring Glynis Johns, Robert Newton and Donald Sinden. Drunken womaniser, Ted, is sent to a tropical island by his family where he meets new friends. | ||
| Wed | 22/12/2021 | 01:15 | Resurrected (1989) | Drama. Directed by Paul Greengrass. Stars David Thewlis, Rita Tushingham & Tom Bell. True story of a British soldier accused of desertion after being left behind in the Falklands after the war. |
| 04:40 | Laurel & Hardy: Hog Wild (1930) | Director: James Parrott. Stars: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Fay Holderness and Dorothy Granger. Stan helps Ollie try to erect a radio aerial on the roof of his house. | ||
| 12:00 | Home For Christmas (1990) | Drama. Directed by Peter McCubbin. Mickey Rooney is an old thief who befriends a child. Good performances and a touch of supernatural bring a solid sentimental journey. Starring Simon Richards. | ||
| 15:05 | The Long Night (1947) | Drama. Director Anatole Litvak. Stars Henry Fonda, Barbara Bel Geddes & Ann Dvorak. Police surround the home of a murderer, with no escape, he reflects on events that led him to the situation. | ||
| 17:05 | Carols with Michael Hordern 1983 | With readings from Sir Michael Hordern and carols including O Little Town of Bethlehem, The First Noel, Good King Wenceslas and Silent Night from the Royal Choral Society and friends. | ||
| Thu | 23/12/2021 | 09:10 | Scrooge (1935) | Family. Ebenezer Scrooge (Seymour Hicks) is persuaded to change his ways one Christmas by visitations from the ghosts of Christmas past, present and yet-to-come. |
| 10:45 | Doctor In Love (1960) | Comedy. Directed by Ralph Thomas. Stars Leslie Phillips, Joan Sims & Fenella Fielding. Richard Hare's love life has as many ups and downs, as does his career. | ||
| 12:45 | The Grapes of Wrath (1940) | Drama. Director: John Ford. Starring: Dorris Bowdon, John Carradine, Henry Fonda. Based on John Steinbeck's novel. Driven from their own land, a depression-era family migrate to California in. | ||
| Fri | 24/12/2021 | 04:35 | Below Zero (1930) | Comedy. Director: James Parrott. Stars Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy & Charlie Hall. Laurel and Hardy play street musicians struggling to earn money on a cold winter day. |
| 10:25 | The Holly and the Ivy (1952) | Drama. A heart-warming tale of a minister and his family reunited at Christmas time recounting their trials. Directed by George More O'Ferrall. Stars Ralph Richardson & Celia Johnson. | ||
| 12:05 | Tales of Beatrix Potter (1971) | Musical. Director: Reginald Mills. Stars The Royal Ballet, Frederick Ashton & Alexander Grant. Beatrix Potter's most beloved characters come to life in this colourful and imaginative musical. | ||
| 13:55 | A Service For Christmas Eve 1993. | Tom Baker introduces a Dickens theme into the service from St Andrews United Reform Church in Eastbourne. | ||
| 18:00 | Night Before Christmas | A beautiful adaptation of the famous poem, with a mixture of animation and live action made in 1946. | ||
| 18:15 | BFI: The Christmas Tree 1966 | Family. Starring Brian Blessed, William Burleigh, Anthony Honour & Kate Nicholls. Gary determines to get a tree for children who will be in hospital for Christmas. Directed by Jim Clark. | ||
| 19:30 | The Smallest Show On Earth (1957) | Comedy. Director: Basil Dearden. Stars Margaret Rutherford, Peter Sellers, Virginia McKenna & Bill Travers. A couple inherit a small cinema are shocked to find a decrepit building. | ||
| 21:05 | Rita Sue and Bob Too (1986) | Comedy. Directed by Alan Clarke. Stars Siobhan Finneran, Michelle Holmes, George Costigan & Lesley Sharp. Two teen babysitters become involved in an affair with their married employer. | ||
| Sat | 25/12/2021 | 03:25 | Man In The Mirror (1936) | Drama with Edward Everett-Horton & Alastair Sim. A timid businessman, while looking into his mirror, is confronted by his alter ego. |
| 06:00 | The Boy Who Stole a Million (1960) | Comedy. Directed by Charles Crichton. Stars Maurice Reyna, George Coulouris & Warren Mitchell. In this British made film, a young lad working in a bank 'borrows' a million to fix his dad's taxi. | ||
| 07:40 | 12 days of Christmas | Charming 1950s animation of the 12 days of Christmas. First aired in 1956 on Christmas eve. | ||
| 07:50 | Good Tidings Of Great Joy (1996) | Gloria Hunniford introduces a Christmas Eve service, including Willard White, Paul Jones and the London Adventists Chorale from Hind Street Methodist Church in East London. | ||
| 09:00 | Hawkeye & the Last of the Mohicans | |||
| 09:30 | BFI: The Christmas Tree | |||
| 10:40 | Phantom Creeps | |||
| 11:40 | 1942 Christmas Cartoon | A young family has no Christmas gifts, so they decide to set up the projector and watch a cartoon 'Toyland'. Made in 1932. Then some Christmas magic happens! | ||
| 12:45 | Scrooge: A Christmas Carol (1951) | Drama. Directed by Brian Desmond Hurst. Starring Alastair Sim, Jack Warner, Kathleen Harrison & Sir Michael Hordern. Christmas is not a time of celebration for the tight-fisted Ebenezer Scrooge. | ||
| 18:35 | Lavender Hill Mob (1951) | Comedy. Directed by Charles Chrichton. Stars Alec Guinness, Sid James & Audrey Hepburn. A bank clerk befriends an eccentric souvenir maker, and they plot to smuggle gold bars out of the country. | ||
| 21:15 | Steptoe and Son Ride Again (1973) | Comedy. Directed by Peter Sykes. Stars Wilfred Brambell, Harry H. Corbett & Diana Dors. After racking up debt, Harold plans to fake his father's death to gain money, but will he play along? | ||
| 23:15 | Water (1985) | Comedy. Directed by Dick Clement. Stars Michael Caine, Leonard Rossiter & Billy Connolly. A British diplomat's idyllic home is thrown into chaos when a source of natural mineral water is found. | ||
| Sun | 26/12/2021 | 01:15 | Notorious (1946) | Drama. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Stars Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman & Claude Rains. A woman is asked to spy on a group of Nazi friends in South America, but how far will she have to go? |
| 10:15 | Beyond Christmas (1940) | Drama. Directed by A Edward Sutherland. Stars Harry Carey, C. Aubrey Smith & Charles Winninger. The ghosts of three victims of an airplane crash return to Earth to help reunite a young couple. | ||
| 19:15 | Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 (1966) | Sci-fi. Directed by Gordon Flemyng. Stars Peter Cushing, Bernard Cribbins & Ray Brooks. Dr Who and his friends travel into the future to find the Daleks' have taken over, but can they stop them? | ||
| 23:55 | The Likely Lads (1976) | Comedy. Director: Michael Tuchner. Stars: Rodney Bewes, James Bolam & Brigit Forsyth. Bob, Thelma, Terry and his girlfriend Christina go on a touring caravan holiday. | ||
Many of the films shown are also now available on Blu-ray and DVD.
