Severn Screen

In 1905, a man travels to a remote island in search of his missing sister who has been kidnapped by a mysterious religious cult.

On the outskirts of Birmingham and the margins of society the Billingham family perform extreme rituals and break social taboos as they muddle through a life decided by factors beyond their control. At times shocking and laced with an unsettling humor, three episodes unfold as a powerful evocation of the experience of growing up in a Black Country council flat.

After a drug deal gone wrong, a bruised detective must fight his way through a criminal underworld to rescue a politician’s estranged son, while unraveling a deep web of corruption and conspiracy that ensnares his entire city.

Herb’s life is a mess. He’s lost his welfare, can’t hold a job, can’t talk to his son, has a neighbour who won’t shut up and a diet that consists mainly of cheap beer and mushy peas. It’s no way to live and he knows it. Then he learns from a TV news report that Danish prisoners have it way better than he does: a job, accessible healthcare, the quiet of the countryside, even an HDTV. They’re practically living in hotels. He says goodbye (and good riddance) to his dingy flat and smuggles himself to Denmark aboard a cargo ship, landing in a quaint town with everything he needs -- including a bank to rob. But when he meets a friendly local barmaid and a lovable stray dog that won’t leave his side, he begins to wonder if prison really is his only chance of a fulfilling life.

When two young lovers crash their car into a ravine in the remote mountains of Wales, they are plunged into a lost world. Dragged from the river by a mysterious figure, they are taken to a ramshackle farm, a place untouched by time. As events unfold we learn the explosive truth about the young couple’s past. More unsettling still, we discover the ghostly truth about Stanley, and the tragedy of the valley he once called home.

The film will tell the true story of the relationship between Welsh schoolmaster Philip Burton and a wild young schoolboy called Richard Jenkins. Richard dreamed of becoming an actor, but his ambitions were in danger of being derailed by a combination of family trouble, the pressure of war, and his own lack of discipline. Mr Burton recognised the raw talent in his pupil, and made it his mission to fight for him, becoming his tutor, strict taskmaster and eventually his adoptive father.