Helen McCrory

The true story of Charlotte Salomon, a young German-Jewish painter who comes of age in Berlin on the eve of the Second World War. Fiercely imaginative and deeply gifted, she dreams of becoming an artist. Her first love applauds her talent, which emboldens her resolve. When anti-Semitic policies inspire violent mobs, she escapes to the safety of the South of France. There she begins to paint again, and finds new love. But her work is interrupted, this time by a family tragedy that reveals an even darker secret. Believing that only an extraordinary act will save her, she embarks on the monumental adventure of painting her life story.

Since 2017, Letters Live has produced 11 shows at the Union Chapel, with no two shows being the same.

Opening in the trenches of Flanders, a personal story unfolds in postwar industrial Birmingham as the Shelby family navigate the decisions that determine their fate, and Tommy is intoxicated by mysterious newcomer Grace. While Tommy is building his empire, Grace is operating as an undercover agent for Special Branch on a mission to get close to the heart of Tommy’s gang. As the story unfolds, hearts are broken, and revenge is sought.

Harry, Ron and Hermione continue their quest to vanquish the evil Voldemort once and for all. Just as things begin to look hopeless for the young wizards, Harry discovers a trio of magical objects that endow him with powers to rival Voldemort's formidable skills.

Harry, Ron and Hermione walk away from their last year at Hogwarts to find and destroy the remaining Horcruxes, putting an end to Voldemort's bid for immortality. But with Harry's beloved Dumbledore dead and Voldemort's unscrupulous Death Eaters on the loose, the world is more dangerous than ever.

When Bond's latest assignment goes gravely wrong, agents around the world are exposed and MI6 headquarters is attacked. While M faces challenges to her authority and position from Gareth Mallory, the new Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee, it's up to Bond, aided only by field agent Eve, to locate the mastermind behind the attack.

During the Blitz of World War II, a female screenwriter works on a film celebrating England's resilience as a way to buoy a weary populace's spirits. Her efforts to dramatise the true story of two sisters who undertook their own maritime mission to rescue wounded soldiers are met with mixed feelings by a dismissive all-male staff.

Orphaned and alone except for an uncle, Hugo Cabret lives in the walls of a train station in 1930s Paris. Hugo's job is to oil and maintain the station's clocks, but to him, his more important task is to protect a broken automaton and notebook left to him by his late father. Accompanied by the goddaughter of an embittered toy merchant, Hugo embarks on a quest to solve the mystery of the automaton and find a place he can call home.

A landscape gardener is hired by famous architect Le Nôtre to construct the grand gardens at the palace of Versailles. As the two work on the palace, they find themselves drawn to each other and are thrown into rivalries within the court of King Louis XIV.

A young man arrives at the last hometown of painter Vincent van Gogh to deliver the troubled artist's final letter and ends up investigating his final days there.

40 years after the first haunting at Eel Marsh House, a group of children evacuated from WWII London arrive, awakening the house's darkest inhabitant.

Jo is chained down in a dead end supermarket job while all her friends are all out on their own separate adventures. But a chance encounter with some diamond thieves sends their separate worlds on a collision course with not only each other, but fate itself.

This unique feature documentary follows two actors, Giles Terera and Dan Poole, as they travel the world to find out everything they can about tackling the greatest writer of them all. Together they have directed and produced an inspiring film that aims to demystify and illuminate Shakespeare’s work for everyone: from actors, directors and students of all disciplines, right through to the "man on the street". Think Shakespeare is boring? Think again!

A dramatisation that follows Tony Blair's journey from political understudy waiting in the wings of the world arena to accomplished prime minister standing confidently in the spotlight of centre stage. It is a story about relationships, between two powerful men (Blair and Bill Clinton), two powerful couples, and husbands and wives.

BAFTA award-winning filmmaker Morgan Matthews was given unprecedented access to the behind-the-scenes of the final days of the final two Harry Potter films, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 1 and 2. Hear the personal stories of the faces we know, and those we don't, as we come to the end of one of the most successful eras in cinema history. Special feature on select editions of Deathly Hallows 1 & 2.

Anarchic, feisty but growing old, high society drop-out Judy Haussman remains in spirit with the Ashrams of the 1960s while holding court in her dilapidated Art Deco house on the Devon coast. After an operation, she's joined by wayward offspring Nick and Libby, sharp-eyed granddaughter Summer, local doctor Peter, and Daniel, a troubled teenager who makes use of the family's crumbling swimming pool. Together they share a few sweltering months in this chaotic world of all-day drinking, infatuations, long-held resentments, free love and failure.

Ordinarily, Hector and Tabitha never go out as they have to look after their disabled elder brother. But tonight's event is so special that they are going to need a carer. And Katy's not going to turn down £88, is she?

We’ll Take Manhattan explores the explosive love affair between sixties supermodel Jean Shrimpton and photographer David Bailey. Focusing on a wild and unpredictable 1962 Vogue photo shoot in New York, the drama brings to life the story of two young people falling in love, misbehaving and inadvertently defining the style of the Sixties along the way.

In a tale of double agents and decoys, this documentary reveals, for the first time, the story of King George VI's elaborate ruse to divert German attention away from the Normandy landings in 1944.

What really happened during Shakespeare's 'Lost Years'? Hopeless lute player Bill Shakespeare leaves his home to follow his dream.

Medea is a wife and a mother. For the sake of her husband, Jason, she’s left her home and borne two sons in exile. But when he abandons his family for a new life, Medea faces banishment and separation from her children. Cornered, she begs for one day’s grace. It’s time enough. She exacts an appalling revenge and destroys everything she holds dear.

Frankie is in her forties, ambitious and successful. She works in the aerospace industry at Filton, designing surveillance drones for the military. Shes never married, and is completely in control of every part of her life. Her closest relationship is with her father, who worked as an engineer on Concorde. But her life changes forever when she embarks on a passionate affair with Kahil, a French/Algerian aerospace student, twenty years younger than her. One day, she arrives at work and is detained by the security services: Kahil is a person of interest to MI5. Her well-ordered life starts to unravel in a welter of suspicion and prejudice, as Frankie no longer knows whether to follow her passion or listen to the doubts that increasingly overwhelm her.

A flat in Ladbroke Grove, West London. 1952. When Hester Collyer is found by her neighbours in the aftermath of a failed suicide attempt, the story of her tempestuous affair with a former RAF pilot and the breakdown of her marriage to a High Court judge begins to emerge. With it comes a portrait of need, loneliness and long-repressed passion. Behind the fragile veneer of post-war civility burns a brutal sense of loss and longing.

The life and times of Tommy Cooper

In the middle of the 17th century, Britain was devastated by a civil war that divided the nation into two tribes - the Roundheads and the Cavaliers. In this programme, celebrities and historians reveal that modern Britain is still defined by the battle between the two tribes. The Cavaliers represent a Britain of panache, pleasure and individuality. They are confronted by the Roundheads, who stand for modesty, discipline, equality and state intervention. The ideas which emerged 350 years ago shaped our democracy, civil liberties and constitution. They also create a cultural divide that influences how we live, what we wear and even what we eat and drink. Individuals usually identify with one tribe or the other, but sometimes they need some elements of the enemy's identity.

The Fantastic Mr. Fox, bored with his current life, plans a heist against the three local farmers. The farmers, tired of sharing their chickens with the sly fox, seek revenge against him and his family.

Dumbledore tries to prepare Harry for the final battle with Voldemort while Death Eaters wreak havoc in both Muggle and Wizard worlds.

Young sailor Edmond Dantès is wrongfully imprisoned, escapes, finds treasure, and reinvents himself as the wealthy Count of Monte Cristo to exact revenge on those who betrayed him.

Though young Jane Austen's financially strapped parents expect her to marry the nephew of wealthy Lady Gresham, Jane herself knows that such a union will destroy her creativity and sense of self-worth. Instead, she becomes involved with Tom Lefroy, a charming but penniless apprentice lawyer who gives her the knowledge of the heart she needs for her future career as a novelist.

With a reputation for seducing members of the opposite sex, regardless of their marital status, a notorious womanizer discovers a beauty who seems impervious to his charms. However, as he continues to pursue the indifferent lady, he finds himself falling in love.

The Queen is an intimate behind the scenes glimpse at the interaction between HM Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Tony Blair during their struggle, following the death of Diana, to reach a compromise between what was a private tragedy for the Royal family and the public's demand for an overt display of mourning.

Two strangers become dangerously close after witnessing a deadly accident. On a beautiful cloudless day a young couple celebrate their reunion with a picnic. Joe has planned a postcard-perfect afternoon in the English countryside with his partner, Claire. But as Joe and Claire prepare to open a bottle of champagne, their idyll comes to an abrupt end. A hot air balloon drifts into the field, obviously in trouble. The pilot catches his leg in the anchor rope, while the only passenger, a boy, is too scared to jump down. Joe and three other men rush to secure the basket. But fate has other ideas...

An aging Hollywood star, Joe Scott, lives a life of narcissistic hedonism, observed by his laconic personal assistant, Ophelia. The death of his childhood best friend, Boots, takes our protagonist, and the movie, into an extended flashback to a sea-side town in 1970s Britain.

This is a drama set in Nazi-occupied France at the height of World War II. Charlotte Gray tells the compelling story of a young Scottish woman working with the French Resistance in the hope of rescuing her lover, a missing RAF pilot. Based on the best-selling novel by Sebastian Faulks.

The corpse of a shabbily dressed young woman has been discovered in the mud flats of the Thames at low tide. Police assume she's a prostitute, but Dr. Watson suspects something more and goes to his old friend Holmes, now retired and at very loose ends.

Rose and Antonia are two old friends who meet up again after the second world war. Unhappy in their relationships, they plan to 'accidentally' murder each others husbands.

A chef seeks reconciliation with her brother by helping him run a decaying resort and health spa.

An endearing tale of faith and fate, with the odd miracle thrown in, set in the 1960's, Tommy is a 7-year-old boy without a dad who fills in the emotional gaps in his life by believing he is Jesus Christ.

Frankenstein is a 2007 British television film produced by Impossible Pictures for ITV. It was written and directed by Jed Mercurio, adapted from Mary Shelley's original novel to a present-day setting. Dr. Victoria Frankenstein, a female geneticist, accidentally creates a monster while growing her son's clone from stem cells as an organ donor in an effort to prevent his imminent death.

The meeting of the quiet Helen North and the charismatic Carla on a beautiful Greek island leads to tragic consequences.

A rollicking adaptation of Kingsley Amis's first novel, Lucky Jim stars Stephen Tompkinson as Jim Dixon, a luckless lecturer at a provincial British university, trying to make a splash with his pompous boss, Professor Neddy Welch (Robert Hardy). Jim is also trying to make it with the woman of his dreams, Christine Callaghan (Keeley Hawes, Othello and Wives and Daughters), while simultaneously being pursued by the woman of his nightmares, fellow lecturer Margaret Peel (Helen McCrory, Anna Karenina). One (of many) complications is that Christine is the girlfriend of Professor Welch's egotistical artist son, Bertrand. Another is that Margaret keeps attempting suicide to get Jim's attention. But despite his misadventures, Jim keeps his eyes on the prize: a leg up on the ladder to a professorship in medieval history.

A vampire relates his epic life story of love, betrayal, loneliness, and dark hunger to an over-curious reporter.

While restoring a fifteenth-century painting Julia reveals a hidden Latin phrase. A series of murders begin to rock her small world of art experts, patrons and restorers, and she finds that the mystery of the painting is interwoven with the mystery of the deaths around her.

Michael Gambon stars in John Osborne's play, set in 1950s Britain, following Archie Rice, a drunken, lecherous, egotistical vaudevillian, whose act is on the downward slope.

After an audacious jewellery robbery the whole James family heads for home on the run with the obsessive detective Julia Armstrong in hot pursuit.

The true story of a Prussian aristocrat working for German military intelligence during World War II, who, with a group of fellow devout Christians, plotted to assassinate Hitler with a bomb in his briefcase.

A wealthy, successful, East-Anglian tulip grower, Dad Savage is also something of a godfather in the local criminal fraternity but doesn't trust banks to take care of his money. On recommendation from his son, Sav, Dad hires two of Sav's unemployed school friends, Bob and Vic, to help with the business and the crime. After some careless talk from Harold, just known as 'H', about Dad's pension fund, Vic and Bob decide to steal the money from Dad if they can find it. The plans to liberate the money go awry and Sav is killed requiring Bob to call upon his sister Chris to rescue them. Dad intercepts their escape and forces a showdown to try to determine exactly the events of the night in order to identify his son's killer.

Television film version of Lee Hall's award-winning radio play. Spoonface is seven years old, Jewish, autistic - and terminally ill with cancer. As she tries to come to terms with the meaning of life and death, she draws inspiration from the prisoners in the Nazi concentration camps who died with dignity and their spirit unbowed.

Alun arrives in Glasgow to play a gig at The Edge, a comedy club run by would-be promoter Max T. Max T should be looking after Alun, but he already has his hands full trying to keep Sandy Cervi, his second cousin and business partner, from taking over the club. In a bid to sort out some 'poontang' for himself and Alun, Max invites Eva, a psychiatric nurse and her photographer friend Christina along to the gig.

The rough urban life in a Welsh valley that focuses on Jo, a single mother who has just become pregnant by her married boyfriend Kevin.

A tramp called Raymond finds his life changes radically when he gets his hands on a sought-after film script.

A split-second decision made in a fit of rage drives attorney and family man Michael Anderson to desperate measures.The stressed-out lawyer hits his melting point one fateful day, when he runs away from the consequences of his actions.

Documentary feature about the shooting of season 3 of the British TV show "Peaky Blinders".