Moviedrome

Moviedrome was a British television cult film series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC2 from 8 May 1988 to 9 July 2000. Its remit was to broadcast a selection of cult films each with an introduction, first by film director Alex Cox and later by film critic Mark Cousins. The producer and director of the series was Nick Freand Jones. During its run, 207 different films were shown.

Moviedrome
The first Moviedrome logo seen here in 1988
Genre	Cinema, cult film
Directed by	Nick Freand Jones
Presented by	Alex Cox (1988–1994) Mark Cousins (1997–2000)
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of seasons	12
No. of episodes	162
Production
Producer	Nick Freand Jones
Original release
Network	BBC2
Release	8 May 1988 (1988-05-08) – 11 September 1994 (1994-09-11)
Release	8 June 1997 (1997-06-08) – 9 July 2000 (2000-07-09)

History

Moviedrome went into development in the late 1980s when BBC producer Nick Freand Jones put together the idea of screening a number of licensed films available within the BBC archives, some of which that had not yet been broadcast. The idea followed a specific film, considered a cult classic, that would be shown on a weekly basis, preceded by an introduction on the film's background,^[1] similar to BBC series The Film Club (1986 to 1991).^[2]

Jones looked to director and screenwriter Alex Cox to present the series. Cox, known for his directorial features Repo Man, Sid and Nancy and Walker, had previously introduced John Boorman's crime thriller Point Blank and Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye for The Film Club, and was chosen as the front-man for Moviedrome.^[1] Cox applied his own unique style to each introduction, as he would educate the viewer, in detail, on the particular film, exploring the genres and themes present within them. As a rule, early screenings of the series were limited to English language-only films, whereas foreign acquisitions had to be dubbed.^[3]

On 8 May 1988, Moviedrome premiered on BBC2, and remained a popular late-night Sunday staple for several years, opening with a previously unseen version of The Wicker Man, containing newly restored footage.^[3][4] During Cox's era on the show, he presented 141 films over seven seasons; those selected consisting of a wide variety of genres, including westerns, Crime thrillers, horrors, sci-fi films and film noir. From the fourth season onwards, the series began to present some films in double bill format. Titles included Johnny Guitar, One-Eyed Jacks, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Five Easy Pieces, Halloween, An American Werewolf in London, Badlands, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, The Thing from Another World, Sweet Smell of Success, Sunset Boulevard, Carrie and Invasion of the Body Snatchers plus its 1978 remake. Some even received UK network premieres, such as, The Long Hair of Death, Carnival of Souls, The Terminator, Vamp, Knightriders, Manhunter, Mad Max 2, Dead Ringers, Rabid, Cry-Baby and Cox's 1987 film Walker. The final film presented was Kiss Me Deadly, when the series concluded on 11 September 1994.^[1][3]

The series was revived in 1997, when Alex Cox was replaced with filmmaker and critic Mark Cousins. Cousins' presentation style differed greatly from Cox's, as well as the film selection being that of more contemporary works, rather than the usual classics. Cousins was also less critical, whereas Cox didn’t shy away from pointing out a particular film's bad points if necessary. On 8 June 1997, Moviedrome returned with Scarface, the first of 66 films presented by Cousins.^[5] This was followed by Logan's Run, The Fog, Vanishing Point, All That Heaven Allows, Shaft, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, Videodrome, Walkabout, Don't Look Now, and several network premieres, with Dazed and Confused, Exotica, La Haine, Spanking the Monkey, Darkness in Tallinn, Storyville, Liebestraum, Highway Patrolman, Funny Bones, Leon, Clockers and Prêt-à-Porter. The final episode screened on 9 July 2000 with The Last American Hero.

Series overview

Opening with the title Moviedrome in neon lights, a lone saxophone wails as the camera pulls back to reveal the inside of a desert motel room into which Alex Cox casually enters. The saxophone is an excerpt from Tom Waits's "Small Change (Got Rained On With His Own .38)", from his 1976 album Small Change. In subsequent years, the title sequences became more elaborate and funny.

Series	Presented by	Episodes		Originally released
				First released	Last released
1	Alex Cox	18		8 May 1988 (1988-05-08)	4 September 1988 (1988-09-04)
2		18		7 May 1989 (1989-05-07)	10 September 1989 (1989-09-10)
3		17		6 May 1990 (1990-05-06)	9 September 1990 (1990-09-09)
4		15		19 May 1991 (1991-05-19)	8 September 1991 (1991-09-08)
5		14		24 May 1992 (1992-05-24)	30 August 1992 (1992-08-30)
6		17		30 May 1993 (1993-05-30)	26 September 1993 (1993-09-26)
7		17		15 May 1994 (1994-05-15)	11 September 1994 (1994-09-11)
8	Mark Cousins	10		8 June 1997 (1997-06-08)	17 August 1997 (1997-08-17)
9		9		4 January 1998 (1998-01-04)	8 March 1998 (1998-03-08)
10		9		20 September 1998 (1998-09-20)	15 November 1998 (1998-11-15)
11		11		18 April 1999 (1999-04-18)	11 July 1999 (1999-07-11)
12		7		14 May 2000 (2000-05-14)	9 July 2000 (2000-07-09)

Presented by Alex Cox

Season 1 (1988)

No. overall	No. in season	Film	Year	Broadcast date	Ref.
1	1	The Wicker Man	1973	8 May 1988	[6]
2	2	Electra Glide in Blue	1973	15 May 1988	[7]
3	3	Diva	1981	22 May 1988	[8]
4	4	Razorback	1984	29 May 1988	[9]
5	5	Big Wednesday	1978	5 June 1988	[10]
6	6	Fat City	1972	12 June 1988	[11]
7	7	The Last Picture Show	1971	19 June 1988	[12]
8	8	Barbarella	1968	26 June 1988	[13]
9	9	The Hired Hand	1971	3 July 1988	[14]
10	10	Johnny Guitar	1954	10 July 1988	[15]
11	11	The Parallax View[a]	1974	17 July 1988	[16]
12	12	The Long Hair of Death	1964	24 July 1988	[17]
13	13	Invasion of the Body Snatchers	1956	31 July 1988	[18]
14	14	The Fly	1958	7 August 1988	[19]
15	15	One from the Heart	1982	14 August 1988	[20]
16	16	The Man Who Fell to Earth	1976	21 August 1988	[21]
17	17	The Good, the Bad and the Ugly	1966	28 August 1988	[22]
18	18	One-Eyed Jacks	1961	4 September 1988	[23]

Season 2 (1989)

No. overall	No. in season	Film	Year	Broadcast date	Ref.
19	1	The Man with X-Ray Eyes	1963	7 May 1989	[24]
20	2	Jabberwocky	1977	14 May 1989	[25]
21	3	D.O.A.	1950	21 May 1989	[26]
22	4	The Thing from Another World	1951	28 May 1989	[27]
23	5	The Incredible Shrinking Man	1957	4 June 1989	[28]
24	6	California Dolls	1981	11 June 1989	[29]
25	7	THX 1138	1971	25 June 1989	[30]
26	8	Stardust Memories	1980	2 July 1989	[31]
27	9	Night of the Comet	1984	9 July 1989	[32]
28	10	The Grissom Gang	1971	16 July 1989	[33]
29	11	Ace in the Hole	1951	23 July 1989	[34]
30	12	Alphaville	1965	30 July 1989	[35]
31	13	Two-Lane Blacktop	1971	6 August 1989	[36]
32	14	Trancers	1984	13 August 1989	[37]
33	15	The Buddy Holly Story	1978	20 August 1989	[38]
34	16	Five Easy Pieces	1970	27 August 1989	[39]
35	17	Sweet Smell of Success	1957	3 September 1989	[40]
36	18	Sunset Boulevard	1950	10 September 1989	[41]

Season 3 (1990)

No. overall	No. in season	Film	Year	Broadcast date	Ref.
37	1	Assault on Precinct 13	1976	6 May 1990	[42]
38	2	Brazil	1985	13 May 1990	[43]
39	3	Get Carter	1971	20 May 1990	[44]
40	4	Goin' South	1978	27 May 1990	[45]
41	5	Dead of Night	1945	10 June 1990	[46]
42	6	The Terminator	1984	24 June 1990	[47]
43	7	The Honeymoon Killers	1970	1 July 1990	[48]
44	8	Ulzana's Raid	1972	8 July 1990	[49]
45	9	The Loved One	1965	15 July 1990	[50]
46	10	An American Werewolf in London	1981	22 July 1990	[51]
47	11	Yojimbo	1961	29 July 1990	[52]
48	12	A Wedding	1978	5 August 1990	[53]
49	13	The Phenix City Story	1955	12 August 1990	[54]
50	14	Walk on the Wildside	1962	19 August 1990	[55]
51	15	The Big Silence	1968	26 August 1990	[56]
52	16	A Bullet for the General	1966	2 September 1990	[57]
53	17	Down by Law	1986	9 September 1990	[58]

Season 4 (1991)

No. overall	No. in season	Film	Year	Broadcast date	Ref.
54	1	The Beguiled	1971	19 May 1991	[59]
55	2	Vamp	1986	26 May 1991	[60]
56	3	Knightriders	1981	2 June 1991	[61]
57	4	Something Wild	1986	9 June 1991	[62]
58	5	Carnival of Souls	1962	23 June 1991	[63]
59a	6a	Badlands	1973	30 June 1991	[64]
59b	6b	The Prowler	1951
60	7	Performance	1970	7 July 1991	[65]
61	8	At Close Range	1986	14 July 1991	[66]
62a	9a	The Duellists	1977	21 July 1991	[67]
62b	9b	Cape Fear	1962
63	10	The Music Lovers	1971	28 July 1991	[68]
64	11	Manhunter	1986	4 August 1991	[69]
65a	12a	Hells Angels on Wheels	1967	18 August 1991	[70]
65b	12b	Rumble Fish	1983
66	13	What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?	1962	25 August 1991	[71]
67	14	Solaris	1972	1 September 1991	[72]
68	15	Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters	1985	8 September 1991	[73]

Season 5 (1992)

No. overall	No. in season	Film	Year	Broadcast date	Ref.
69a	1a	Mad Max 2	1981	24 May 1992	[74]
69b	1b	F for Fake	1973
70a	2a	Dead Ringers	1988	31 May 1992	[75]
70b	2b	Rabid	1977
71	3	Junior Bonner	1972	7 June 1992	[76]
72	4	The Serpent and the Rainbow	1988	14 June 1992	[77]
73	5	Les Diaboliques	1955	28 June 1992	[78]
74	6	The Spider's Stratagem	1970	5 July 1992	[79]
75	7	Escape from New York	1981	12 July 1992	[80]
76a	8a	Alligator	1980	19 July 1992	[81]
76b	8b	Q – The Winged Serpent	1982
77a	9a	Wise Blood	1979	26 July 1992	[82]
77b	9b	Witchfinder General	1968
78	10	Lolita	1962	2 August 1992	[83]
79	11	Play Misty for Me	1971	9 August 1992	[84]
80	12	Walker	1987	16 August 1992	[85]
81	13	Tracks	1976	23 August 1992	[86]
82a	14a	The Day of the Locust	1975	30 August 1992	[87]
82b	14b	The Big Knife	1955

Season 6 (1993)

No. overall	No. in season	Film	Year	Broadcast date	Ref.
83	1	Darkman	1990	30 May 1993	[88]
84	2	House of Games	1987	6 June 1993	[89]
85a	3a	Escape from Alcatraz	1979	13 June 1993	[90]
85b	3b	A Man Escaped	1956
86	4	The Hill	1965	20 June 1993	[91]
87a	5a	Cry-Baby	1990	27 June 1993	[92]
87b	5b	Lenny	1974		[93]
88a	6a	Invasion of the Body Snatchers	1978	4 July 1993	[94]
88b	6b	Romance of a Horsethief	1971		[95]
89a	7a	Gothic	1986	11 July 1993	[96]
89b	7b	The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey	1988		[97]
90	8	Weekend	1967	18 July 1993	[98]
91a	9a	Rebel Without a Cause	1955	25 July 1993	[99]
91b	9b	200 Motels	1971		[100]
92a	10a	Django	1966	1 August 1993	[101]
92b	10b	Grim Prairie Tales	1990		[102]
93a	11a	Run of the Arrow	1957	8 August 1993	[103]
93b	11b	Verboten!	1959		[104]
94	12	The Long Riders	1980	15 August 1993	[105]
95	13	The Big Combo	1955	22 August 1993	[106]
96	14	Face to Face	1967	29 August 1993	[107]
97	15	Requiescant	1967	5 September 1993	[108]
98	16	What Have I Done to Deserve This?	1984	19 September 1993	[109]
99	17	Carrie	1976	26 September 1993	[110]

Season 7 (1994)

No. overall	No. in season	Film	Year	Broadcast date	Ref.
100a	1a	The Andromeda Strain	1971	15 May 1994	[111]
100b	1b	Fiend Without a Face	1958
101	2	Talk Radio	1988	22 May 1994	[112]
102	3	Carnal Knowledge	1971	29 May 1994	[113]
103a	4a	Coogan's Bluff	1968	5 June 1994	[114]
103b	4b	The Narrow Margin	1952		[115]
104	5	The Harder They Come	1972	19 June 1994	[116]
105	6	Salvador	1986	26 June 1994	[117]
106	7	The People Under the Stairs	1991	3 July 1994	[118]
107a	8a	Halloween	1978	10 July 1994	[119]
107b	8b	The Baby	1973
108	9	Carny	1980	17 July 1994	[120]
109a	10a	Girl on a Motorcycle	1968	24 July 1994	[121]
109b	10b	Psychomania	1973		[122]
110a	11a	Race with the Devil	1975	31 July 1994	[123]
110b	11b	Detour	1945		[124]
111a	12a	Rope	1948	7 August 1994	[125]
111b	12b	84 Charlie Mopic	1989		[126]
112a	13a	To Sleep with Anger	1990	14 August 1994	[127]
112b	13b	Contempt	1963
113a	14a	Excalibur	1981	21 August 1994	[128]
113b	14b	Nothing Lasts Forever	1984		[129]
114a	15a	Naked Tango	1990	28 August 1994	[130]
114b	15b	Apartment Zero	1989
115a	16a	Major Dundee	1965	4 September 1994	[131]
115b	16b	Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia	1974
116	17	Kiss Me Deadly	1955	11 September 1994	[132]

Presented by Mark Cousins

Season 8 (1997)

No. overall	No. in season	Film	Year	Broadcast date	Ref.
117	1	Scarface	1983	8 June 1997	[133]
118a	2a	Westworld	1973	15 June 1997	[134]
118b	2b	Demon Seed	1977
119a	3a	The Fly	1986	22 June 1997	[135]
119b	3b	Society	1989
120	4	Exotica	1994	29 June 1997	[136]
121a	5a	Blue Collar	1978	13 July 1997	[137]
121b	5b	American Gigolo	1980
122a	6a	Dazed and Confused	1993	20 July 1997	[138]
122b	6b	The Sex Lives of the Belgians	1994
123a	7a	The Girl Can't Help It	1956	27 July 1997	[139]
123b	7b	Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatjana	1994		[140]
124a	8a	The Warriors	1979	3 August 1997	[141]
124b	8b	La Haine	1995
125	9	Spanking the Monkey	1994	10 August 1997	[142]
126a	10a	Logan's Run	1976	17 August 1997	[143]
126b	10b	Fahrenheit 451	1966		[144]

Season 9 (1998)

No. overall	No. in season	Film	Year	Broadcast date	Ref.
127a	1a	The Fog	1980	4 January 1998	[145]
127b	1b	Darkness in Tallinn	1993		[146]
128a	2a	Storyville	1992	11 January 1998	[147]
128b	2b	Ruthless	1948		[148]
129a	3a	Vanishing Point	1971	18 January 1998	[149]
129b	3b	The Devil Thumbs a Ride	1947		[150]
130	4	Targets	1968	1 February 1998	[151]
131	5	Liebestraum	1991	8 February 1998	[152]
132	6	Bad Timing	1980	15 February 1998	[153]
133	7	The Conversation	1974	22 February 1998	[154]
134a	8a	All That Heaven Allows	1955	1 March 1998	[155]
134b	8b	The Reckless Moment	1949		[156]
135	9	Highway Patrolman	1991	8 March 1998	[157]

Season 10 (1998)

No. overall	No. in season	Film	Year	Broadcast date	Ref.
136	1	Trespass	1992	20 September 1998	[158]
137a	2a	Shaft	1971	27 September 1998	[159]
137b	2b	Force of Evil	1948		[160]
138	3	Funny Bones	1995	4 October 1998	[161]
139	4	Cat People	1982	11 October 1998	[162]
140	5	The Killers	1946	18 October 1998	[163]
141	6	Caged Heat	1974	25 October 1998	[164]
142	7	Thunderbolt and Lightfoot	1974	1 November 1998	[165]
143	8	Carrie[b]	1976	8 November 1998	[166]
144a	9a	Leon	1994	15 November 1998	[167]
144b	9b	Le Samouraï	1967

Season 11 (1999)

No. overall	No. in season	Film	Year	Broadcast date	Ref.
145	1	Clockers	1995	18 April 1999	[168]
146a	2a	Ed Wood	1995	25 April 1999	[169]
146b	2b	The Body Snatcher	1945		[170]
147	3	Prêt-à-Porter	1994	2 May 1999	[171]
148a	4a	Videodrome	1983	9 May 1999	[172]
148b	4b	Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye	1950		[173]
149	5	Carlito's Way	1993	16 May 1999	[174]
150	6	The Osterman Weekend	1983	23 May 1999	[175]
151	7	Mommie Dearest	1981	6 June 1999	[176]
152	8	Johnny Guitar	1954	11 June 1999	[177]
153	9	Branded to Kill	1967	18 June 1999	[178]
154	10	The List of Adrian Messenger	1963	20 June 1999	[179]
155	11	One-Eyed Jacks	1961	11 July 1999	[180]

Season 12 (2000)

No. overall	No. in season	Film	Year	Broadcast date	Ref.
156a	1a	Blood and Wine	1996	14 May 2000	[181]
156b	1b	Plein Soleil	1960		[182]
157a	2a	Rumble in the Bronx	1995	21 May 2000	[183]
157b	2b	Clubbed to Death	1997		[184]
158a	3a	The Underneath	1995	4 June 2000	[185]
158b	3b	The Hitch-Hiker	1953		[186]
159a	4a	The Killers	1964	11 June 2000	[187]
159b	4b	On Dangerous Ground	1951		[188]
160a	5a	Walkabout	1971	18 June 2000	[189]
160b	5b	Don't Look Now	1973		[190]
161	6	White of the Eye	1987	2 July 2000	[191]
162	7	The Last American Hero	1973	9 July 2000	[192]

Note: Although some episodes (including both singular, and the second film of the double bill episodes) were broadcast after 12:00am and into the early hours of Monday mornings, they will remain dated for the Sunday night broadcast schedules to avoid confusion.

Notes

1. The Parallax View, along with a new Moviedrome introduction, was broadcast on BBC2 on 21 November 1993 as part of a special "JFK Night".
2. Although Carrie was broadcast on Moviedrome before, this screening included an exclusive interview from Brian De Palma.