Reposted by Melanie WilliamsDan Sohege @danielsohege.bsky.social · 23hOkay, so Reform is now actively advocating for the armed forces to murder unarmed civilians as official policy. At what point does the media at large stop treating these people as anything but fascistic far right thugs who under any normal functioning system would be condemned as extremists. 13265121
Reposted by Melanie WilliamsSpinky’s Mama @spinkysmama.bsky.social · 17/01/20261st time reading Stick Man: What a lovely story. We’ll have it again tomorrow? 10th time reading Stick Man: Oh look, a nativity card behind Stick Man. 50th time reading Stick Man: so Jesus exists in the Stick Man universe? 100th time reading Stick Man: iS sTiCk mAN A fRaGment oF tHe tRUe cROsS? 0164
Reposted by Melanie WilliamsCaptain Howdy @captainhowdy.bsky.social · 11/10/2026'Don't Look Now' is on BBC2 at 22.45, tonight, which means I can swerve another day of making a fresh Hallowmeme. 19618
Reposted by Melanie WilliamsReelStreets @reelstreets.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Do you recognise these buildings seen in the title sequence of 1963's 'Billy Liar'. If so, please let us know and the first to tell us will be credited with the identification. The film was mainly shot in Bradford, Leeds, London and Manchester. Thanks in advance for looking. 31618
Reposted by Melanie WilliamsPaul Hayes @paul-hayes.bsky.social · 25/09/202670 years ago today, the BBC showed a recording of the CBC's Flight into Danger - later remade as the film Airplane!, and one of the important steps on the way to the creation of #DoctorWho. To celebrate, here's a much longer edit of my audio documentary telling Flight into Danger's story:youtube.comFlight into Danger - The Story of the Original Airplane! (an audio documentary)YouTube video by Paul Hayes 12725
Melanie Williams @britfilmmelanie.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Woohoo! (thrilled to be described as a guru as well) 012
Reposted by Melanie WilliamsPaul Hayes @paul-hayes.bsky.social · 24/09/2026This evening in 1956, at 7.55pm, BBC TV ran a trail for a drama they'd be showing the next day - a recording of the CBC play Flight into Danger. So it seems appropriate, exactly 70 years on, to trail that tomorrow I'll be putting out an extended edit of my audio doc on Flight - now 66 minutes long! 1106
Reposted by Melanie WilliamsGoon Pod @goonpod.bsky.social · 24/09/2026If ever I write a book about British comedy this is the cover 3252
Reposted by Melanie WilliamsBritish Comedy Guide @britishcomedy.bsky.social · 13/09/2026"The show was well and truly doomed." Comedy Chronicles looks back at Hale & Pace moving to the BBC and their oddly titled final series, 'h&p@bbc.' www.comedy.co.uk/features/com...comedy.co.ukIt seemed a good idea at the time #8: h&p@bbc. - Comedy Chronicles - British Comedy GuideA look back at sketch double act Hale & Pace's move from ITV to the BBC, and h&p@bbc., the oddly named and poorly received show which turned out to be their final TV series. 22510
Melanie Williams @britfilmmelanie.bsky.social · 15/09/2026Excited to be keynote speaker for this essential biennial conference where all the feminist media historians gather! 074
Reposted by Melanie WilliamsJonathan Coe @jonathancoe.bsky.social · 10/09/2026Two whole months of Wilder at the bfi! Really looking forward to this, of course - not least my own participation, at a discussion event with @christinalefou.bsky.social and season curator Ruby McGuigan on November 4th. 35911
Reposted by Melanie WilliamsChris Orton @chriso1.bsky.social · 25/08/2026Sorry, who is he playing in which series? 33410
Melanie Williams @britfilmmelanie.bsky.social · 23/08/2026Some fun stuff upcoming if you're a British film geek who can get to London - see our @baftss.bsky.social SIG site for more info britishcinemaandtelevisionsig.wordpress.com/2026/08/22/b...britishcinemaandtelevisionsig.wordpress.comBumper pack at the BFIThere are a number of events taking place at the British Film Institute, London that are of interest to, or supported by, members of the British cinema and television SIG. Since these are all happe… 134
Reposted by Melanie WilliamsTim Worthington @outonbluesix.bsky.social · 19/08/2026Looking for a quicker and easier and only moderately more sarcastic way of catching up with Marvel's recommended viewing list ahead of Avengers: Doomsday? Well I might be able to help you with that... timworthington.org/2026/08/19/i...timworthington.orgIt’s Good, Except It Sucks: Countdown To Avengers: DoomsdayA quicker – and only moderately more sarcastic – way of getting caught up on Marvel’s watch list ahead of Avengers: Doomsday. 11311
Reposted by Melanie WilliamsJames Butler @piercepenniless.bsky.social · 07/08/2026This is an attempted lynching, which will be treated with much less seriousness then pensioners holding up Palestine Action placards. 9624264
Reposted by Melanie WilliamsPaul Bernal @paulbernal.bsky.social · 07/08/2026‘Listening’ to ‘legitimate concerns’ is what led us to violent riots in Thetford. Embracing flag-shagging is what inspires lynch mobs. These are the worst of people, and we should have said so clearly and loudly from the start. We should be saying it now. 33824237
Reposted by Melanie WilliamsMatthew Bailey @whyoutloud.bsky.social · 03/08/2026Fabulous. Sobers notably not so: Rewind to 1973: A Test hundred with a hangover | Cricinfo share.google/AuQKU1GXlijG...share.googleA Test hundred with a hangoverGarry Sobers starred in an innings victory after a night (and some of the day) about the town 021
Melanie Williams @britfilmmelanie.bsky.social · 03/08/2026They say don't meet your heroes but I beg to differ: it was a delight and a thrill to interview Sir Tom Courtenay 1183
Reposted by Melanie WilliamsRobert Sharp @mrrobertsharp.bsky.social · 02/08/2026Found myself in the Curzon Mayfair cinema watching "Billy Liar" in the company of its star, Sir Tom Courtenay. First time viewing for me, made more enjoyable by the post show Q&A by the delightful @britfilmmelanie.bsky.social. Tom has a new film on release soon with the incomparable Juliette Binoche 193
Reposted by Melanie WilliamsJon Dies At The End @accordingtojond.bsky.social · 01/08/2026Wonderful afternoon at the Curzon Mayfair to see the 4K @studiocanal.com restoration of Billy Liar, the perfect pitch of British New Wave realism and genuinely funny comedy. With Tom Courtenay himself in attendance, expertly hosted by @britfilmmelanie.bsky.social 5397
Reposted by Melanie WilliamsAlan Barnes @senrabnala.bsky.social · 01/08/2026A man could lose himself in London. But fortunately the great Tom Courtenay found his way to a screening of the new restoration of Billy Liar this afternoon. 4343
Melanie Williams @britfilmmelanie.bsky.social · 26/07/2026Another great bit, this time on the Venn diagram of booze and lolz 031
Reposted by Melanie WilliamsPaul Hayes @paul-hayes.bsky.social · 21/07/2026Because I thought it'd be a shame not to spread the story further, I volunteered to do a write-up of a radio interview my colleague Matthew did about the time Garry Sobers popped round to visit a young cricket fan in Norwich:bbc.co.ukThe day Sir Garfield Sobers turned up in my Norwich sitting roomCricket fan recalls the moment Sir Garfield Sobers popped into his parents' Norwich terraced house to say hello. 1126
Reposted by Melanie WilliamsJonathan Coe @jonathancoe.bsky.social · 19/07/2026Scrolling through old pictures and being reminded of the time when one of my novels was an A/S Level set text and I vanity-searched Twitter to see what students were saying about it, and got a warm glow at the thought that I was inspiring a whole new generation of readers. 1023831
Melanie Williams @britfilmmelanie.bsky.social · 09/07/2026Please think about helping this wonderful shrine to all things cinematic! www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/qr/Onvr11Kncrowdfunder.co.ukThe Cinema Museum: HELP US BUY OUR HOMEAfter 40 years of uncertainty, we have a chance to secure our home. We need £500,000 to purchase our home and we have five months to do it! 032
Reposted by Melanie WilliamsPhilip Cowley @philipjcowley.bsky.social · 08/07/2026Me and @whyoutloud.bsky.social, in 2024, on fringe candidates - a tradition long before the binman commeth. www.politicshome.com/thehouse/art...politicshome.comA history of fringe candidatesThere will be a record number of candidates at this election. Many of them will be very serious. But not all. 4138
Melanie Williams @britfilmmelanie.bsky.social · 08/07/2026'If a piece of meat held between the finger and thumb of the gloved hand is offered to the hawk, it will probably bend down and pull at the meat with its beak.' Yep, I'm entering the falconry discourse with this piece on Kes for BFI www.bfi.org.uk/inside-the-a...bfi.org.ukHow to train a kestrel: the original notes from the making of KesThese production notes reveal how Ken Loach’s commitment to authenticity connected Billy Casper’s self-taught falconry on screen with first-time actor David Bradley’s own crash course in handling bird... 152
Reposted by Melanie WilliamsChris Parr @chrisjparr.bsky.social · 02/07/2026Time and again I think that THIS is the stat universities should shout, shout & shout again about. New education export data again show HE responsible for nearly three-quarters of a £37bn UK revenue source. Fund our universities! Source: explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statist... 14331
Melanie Williams @britfilmmelanie.bsky.social · 30/06/2026More BFI object of the week stuff, and this time it's got that Ealing feeling www.bfi.org.uk/inside-the-a...bfi.org.ukThe back room from Dead of Night: the production design for a dusty hiding placeIn a section of Ealing’s classic anthology horror Dead of Night, children hide in an empty room that’s become a dumping ground for obsolete household items. The original production design sketched out... 062
Melanie Williams @britfilmmelanie.bsky.social · 29/06/2026Did a Muriel seminar and now it's online for all to enjoy m.youtube.com/watch?v=WH1r...m.youtube.comMuriel Box and the Truth About Women DirectorsYouTube video by Film, Theatre & Televsion | University of Reading 041
Reposted by Melanie WilliamsJames A @exeterdormouse.bsky.social · 28/06/2026Exeter is a great university, so what on earth is its management doing? Meanwhile, the government needs to get a grip: It's cut real term funding per student by 35% in the last decade, while doing its best to lose lucrative income from international students. #DefendExeterUni 0105
Melanie Williams @britfilmmelanie.bsky.social · 23/06/2026It's getting hot in here, so take off all your clothes - like Julie Christie does at the end of Darling www.bfi.org.uk/inside-the-a...bfi.org.ukObject of the week: Costume designs for Julie Christie in the swinging 60s drama DarlingThese costume designs by Julie Harris helped to create one of the iconic figures of swinging London: Julie Christie’s upwardly mobile fashion model in the 1965 drama Darling. 020
Reposted by Melanie WilliamsTom Reagan’s Witch’s Hat @rufustsuperfly.bsky.social · 23/06/2026It’s Dennis Price’s birthday. He’s superb as Wildean serial killer Louis in Kind Hearts. This is one of the most powerful scenes in cinema as he ensnares his final target & all ironic wit disappears, leaving only his anger at the vile class system that killed his mother. youtu.be/mDvSLHhhhs8?...youtu.beFC68a Kind Hearts and Coronets 1949 2YouTube video by Fingers Paul 55911
Reposted by Melanie WilliamsStuart Millard @franticplanet.bsky.social · 22/06/2026Walked to the 'office' and now sat wiping my forehead like Mike McShane halfway through the props round 618326
Reposted by Melanie WilliamsColm Murphy @colmpm.bsky.social · 14/06/2026I hope Hull History Centre won't mind me sharing this lovely letter from Roy Hattersley's papers, on the sad news of his passing aged 93. RIP. 7381103
Melanie Williams @britfilmmelanie.bsky.social · 15/06/2026Likewise very happy to have been involved in this great Hammer release ⏳️ 050
Melanie Williams @britfilmmelanie.bsky.social · 02/06/2026Another BFI archival bit from me, this time on Pressburger, pre-Powell www.bfi.org.uk/inside-the-a...bfi.org.ukEmeric Pressburger’s screening room pass for the UFA film studios in pre-Nazi GermanyThis is the pass that Emeric Pressburger – later half of Powell and Pressburger – used to access the screening theatre at Germany’s biggest film studio, just before he fled Berlin in the early 1930s. 1228
Reposted by Melanie WilliamsMaggie Hennefeld @hennefem.bsky.social · 30/05/2026HBD to the legendary joyful/angry feminist and superlative filmmaker Agnès Varda (1928-2019)!!! 🎊🎞️ 51049192
Reposted by Melanie Williamstnyfrontrow.bsky.social @tnyfrontrow.bsky.social · 30/05/2026In memory and honor of the sociologist and philosopher Edgar Morin, who, in 1960, published the essay in which he coined the term cinéma-vérité and co-directed, with Jean Rouch, the film—Chronicle of a Summer—that showed what he had in mind. He passed away yesterday, at age 104. 0199
Reposted by Melanie Williams 𝐃𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐀𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐆𝐮𝐚𝐧𝐨 @agnes-guano.bsky.social · 27/05/2026One of the more unlikely artists to appear on the Motown label. From 1977, Albert Finney's Album. 1125
Reposted by Melanie WilliamsTony Paley @tpaleyfilm.bsky.social · 27/05/2026#bestfilminlondontoday May 27 at capitalcelluloid.blogspot.com guide to rep cinema scene. @britfilmmelanie.bsky.social intros 35mm screening of neo-realist influenced TURN THE KEY SOFTLY (1953) in great British Post-War cinema season at BFI capitalcelluloid.blogspot.com/2026/05/capi...capitalcelluloid.blogspot.comCapital Celluloid 2026 — Day 147: Wed May 27Turn the Key Softly (Lee, 1953): BFI Southbank, NFT2, 6.15pm This 35mm screening, introduced by Professor Melanie Williams, is part of the ... 041