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Sep 21 | 6 min readThe BritBox UK Hot List: Films, drama and comedy to watch on BritBox in September
Groundbreaking alternative comedy, award-winning Eighties drama and the biopic of a 20th century icon are among the new arrivals on BritBox this month.
Discover what’s on BritBox this September – from classic films and cult comedy to the best drama series of the last 40 years.
The Comic Strip Presents... will take you right back to the heyday of alternative comedy and introduce you to today's elder statesmen (and women) as they were starting out. All five seasons of the Channel 4 comedy-dramas are now on BritBox, along with some of the troupe's feature-length outings.
The Monocled Mutineer thrust Paul McGann onto our screens as rebel soldier Percy Toplis in 1986 - find out what the fuss was all about.
And among this month's new films is the story of one of the great figures of the late 20th century - Nelson Mandela. Idris Elba takes on the challenging role in the film of the former South African president's memoirs, Long Walk to Freedom.
Plus, don’t miss what’s on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, NOW and Sky Cinema this month.
The Comic Strip Presents...
Channel 4
The Comic Strip Presents.. revolutionised TV comedy when the alternative troupe's first outing, Enid Blyton parody Five Go Mad in Dorset, aired on the opening night of Channel 4 in 1982.
Its young stars - Adrian Edmondson, Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, Robbie Coltrane and Peter Richardson - would be joined in future episodes by Rik Mayall, Nigel Planer, Alexei Sayle and Keith Allen as their anarchic brand of comedy moved out of the eponymous London club and onto the small screen.
Highlights of the series include The Strike (Hollywood's take on the 1984 Miner's Strike), hitman drama Mr Jolly Lives Next Door and Bad News Tour, a heavy metal mockumentary which led to the quartet hitting the road in real life.
All 36 episodes across five series from 1982 to 1993 are now available on BritBox, as well as feature-length films such as Churchill: The Hollywood Years, The Supergrass, Eat the Rich and The Pope Must Die.
Watch The Comic Strip Presents... series 1-5 on BritBox from 1 September.
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Idris Elba and Naomie Harris star in this epic adaptation of Nelson Mandela's 1995 autobiography Long Walk to Freedom.
The film traces the life of the first black president of South Africa from his early life and education to his role in the fight against Apartheid, his 27 years in prison and finally his attempts to rebuild South Africa in the post-Apartheid era.
Variety praised Elba for delivering "a towering performance, a Mandela for the ages", while Harris's powerful depiction of Mandela's wife Winnie also catches the eye.
Watch Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom on BritBox from 15 September.
More films new to BritBox this month
1 September
Churchill: The Hollywood Years (2004)
Eat the Rich (1987)
Sweeney! (1977)
The Pope Must Die (1991)
The Supergrass (1985)
Who Killed Nancy? (2009)
8 September
Away (2016)
Cracks (2009)
Friends and Crocodiles (2006)
Golden Years (2016)
Joe's Palace (2007)
Onegin (1999)
Song for a Raggy Boy (2003)
The Tourist (2010)
W.E. (2011)
The Lost Prince (2004)
15 September
A United Kingdom (2016)
Creep (2004)
Enemy At The Gates (2001)
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013)
Oliver Twist (2005)
Selma (2014)
22 September
Danny And The Human Zoo (2015)
Hyena (2014)
Match Point (2005)
To End All Wars (2001)
29 September
The Last Days of Lehman Brothers (2009)
Van Gogh: Painted with Words (2010)
The Monocled Mutineer
BBC
Paul McGann plays the titular Percy Toplis, one of the leaders of a mutiny against the brutal regime at the Etaples training camp in World War I France.
After the troops rebel, Toplis takes charge of negotiations with the camp commander, but becomes a marked man when the mutiny is over.
Gripping four-part drama by award-winning Boys From the Blackstuff writer Alan Bleasdale received nine BAFTA nominations when first broadcast in 1986.
Watch The Monocled Mutineer on BritBox from 15 September.
New series coming to BritBox in September
BBC
1 September
The Comic Strip Presents... series 1-5 - Vintage alternative comedy starring a host of now very famous faces.
8 September
Staged - Lockdown hit for David Tennant and Michael Sheen as two actors forced to rehearse online due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Perfect Strangers - A family reunion leads to the unearthing of some dark secrets. Stars Michael Gambon, Jill Baker and Matthew McFadyen.
15 September
The Monocled Mutineer - Paul McGann stars in World War I drama about an uprising in a brutal training camp in France.
29 September
3 Non-Blondes series 1 & 2 - Jocelyn Jee Esien, Ninia Benjamin and Tameka Empson take to the streets and create hidden-camera havoc.
Rab C Nesbitt series 1-8 - Beery Glaswegian philosopher Rab (Gregor Fisher) puts the world to rights, much to the annoyance of wife Mary (Elaine C Smith).
The Real McCoy series 2-5 - Groundbreaking sketch show that brought the black British perspective to TV, packed with guest stars and music.
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