Spring is already here (well, sort of), and it brings with it several interesting additions to BritBox UK: From Hugh Laurie’s Agatha Christie adaptation Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? to a new Gerry Anderson documentary, lots of comedy films for April 1, including the Carry On series of films, and much more.
BritBox UK (not to be confused with the separate American version) is a streaming subscription service owned by ITV. It curates British TV programmes and classic films from ITV, BBC, Channel 5 and Channel 4.
The subscription normally costs £5.99/month or £59.99/year, and you can usually get a free trial (See my review of BritBox UK here).
You can subscribe directly through the BritBox website, or as an Amazon Prime Video channel (which will then make it available on every device with a Prime Video app – including Sky Q / Sky Glass).
Later this year, big changes will be coming to BritBox UK, with it moving over to ITV’s new streaming service, ITVX – learn more about the upcoming BritBox changes in our guide.
- Missed the previous month? Here’s everything that came to BritBox in March 2022.
As always, some content may be added later in the month, but these are the highlights for the month of April 2022:
April 1
April Fools Comedy Collection, starting with many additional classic Carry On films:
Carry On Cabby (1963)
A successful businessman who owns a taxi company goes bankrupt when the services of a rival company start being offered in the city.
Starring Sid James, Hattie Jacques, Charles Hawtrey and Kenneth Connor.
Carry On Constable (1960)
With a flu epidemic running rife, three new bumbling recruits are assigned to Inspector Mills police station. With help from Special Constable Gorse, they manage to totally wreck the operations of the police force and let plenty of criminals get away, even before they arrive at the station.
Starring Charles Hawtrey, Kenneth Connor, Sid James and Hattie Jacques.
Carry On Cowboy (1965)
When an outlaw wreaks havoc in Stodge City, Marshal P Knutt, a sanitation engineer mistaken for a US Peace Marshal, is sent in to control the situation.
Starring Sid James, Angela Douglas, Kenneth Williams and Charles Hawtrey.
Carry On Cruising (1962)
Wellington Crowther, the captain of SS Happy Wanderer, finds himself in a pickle when five of his crew members leave without a notice. He is forced to hire five incompetent men at the last minute.
Starring Sid James, Kenneth Connor, Kenneth Williams and Dilys Laye.
Carry On Nurse (1959)
Set in Haven Hospital where a certain men’s ward is causing more havoc than the whole hospital put together. The formidable Matron gives the patients a chill every time she walks past.
Starring Hattie Jacques, Kenneth Connor, Kenneth Williams and Joan Sims.
Carry On Regardless (1961)
Bert Handy and his assistant hire a handful of people for a new business venture, Helping Hands. The workers are made to carry out unusual tasks: from walking chimpanzees to helping couples patch up.
Starring Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Kenneth Connor and Charles Hawtrey.
Carry On Screaming (1966)
An evil doctor kidnaps women and turns them into mannequins so that he can sell them to shops. The detective investigating the case has no clue about the disappearance of several women from the city.
Starring Kenneth Williams, Fenella Fielding, Gerald Thomas and Harry H. Corbett.
Carry On Sergeant! (1958)
Sergeant Grimshawe is a retiring army training sergeant who is faced with possibly the worst group of national service recruits ever to have been called up.
Starring William Hartnell, Charles Hawtrey, Kenneth Connor and Hattie Jacques.
Carry On Spying (1964)
A top secret chemical formula has been stolen by STENCH (the Society for the Total Extinction of Non-Conforming Humans), and so Agent Simpkins and his three trainees are hot on the trail, chasing the villains across the world.
There are gadgets galore, and disguises are compulsory if the heroes are to win the day.
Starring Kenneth Williams, Barbara Windsor, Charles Hawtrey and Bernard Cribbins.
Carry On Teacher (1959)
Pupils run amok at Maudlin Street School in an attempt to hang on to their headmaster. He has applied for a new job, but the students like him and don’t want to lose him.
Starring Ted Ray, Kenneth Connor, Kenneth Williams and Hattie Jacques.
Stath Lets Flats (Season 3, 2021)
In the unstable world of London’s property market, Stath tries to prove himself as the perfect heir to his father’s flat-letting business despite his undesirable personality and incompetence.
BAFTA-winning comedy starring Jamie Demetriou, Natasia Demetriou, Alastair Roberts and Katy Wix.
The Plank (1967)
After someone uses the last floorboard for heating, two hapless carpenters have to buy a replacement. They return to the house with the plank on top of a Morris Eight, but the journey is fraught with unexpected and humorous difficulties.
Slapstick comedy starring Eric Sykes, Jimmy Edwards, Tommy Cooper and Hattie Jacques.
Bright Young Things (2003)
An adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s novel Vile Bodies, Bright Young Things is a look into the lives of a young novelist, his would-be lover, and a host of young people who beautified London in the 1930s.
Starring Stephen Fry, Michael Sheen, Emily Mortimer and Dan Aykroyd.
I’m All Right Jack (1959)
A naive aristocrat in search of a career becomes caught up in the struggles between his profit-minded uncle and an aggressive labour union.
Starring Peter Sellers, Ian Carmichael and Dennis Price.
The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)
Henry, a shy bank clerk in charge of gold bullions, dreams of leading an opulent life. Soon, he comes in contact with a foundry owner, Alfred. Both plan to smuggle gold out of the bank.
Ealing comedy starring Alec Guinness, Audrey Hepburn, Sid James and Stanley Holloway.
The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953)
Volunteers take over their local passenger train service (against bus company resistance) when the government announces its closure.
Ealing comedy starring Stanley Holloway, George Relph, John Gregson and Naunton Wayne.
Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa (2013)
DJ Alan Partridge becomes an unlikely negotiator when the radio station is held hostage by a disgruntled Pat Farrell, Alan’s colleague, who is afraid of losing his job after the radio station is sold.
Starring Steve Coogan, Felicity Montagu, Tim Key and Diane Morgan.
Clockwise (1986)
An obsessively punctual comprehensive school headmaster sets out to give an important speech at the annual Headmasters’ Conference.
Starring John Cleese, Sharon Maiden, Penelope Wilton and Stephen Moore.
Cuban Fury (2014)
A young dancer loses his self-confidence when he is bullied on the streets of London. Twenty-two years later, he decides to awaken the dancer within him in order to woo his boss.
Starring Nick Frost, Rashida Jones and Chris O’Dowd.
Man Up (2015)
Nancy is travelling across London to toast another ten years of her parents’ magical marriage. She runs into Jack who mistakes her for his blind date. Nancy decides to go with it and starts the most chaotic journey of her life.
Starring Simon Pegg, Lake Bell, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Rory Kinnear.
Mindhorn (2016)
A has-been actor, known for playing British detective Mindhorn, works alongside the police to catch a serial killer who will only speak to Mindhorn, whom he believes to be real.
Starring Julian Barratt, Steve Coogan, Simon Farnaby and Essie Davis.
The Goodies (Season 1, 1970)
The first series of the “We Do Anything, Anytime, Anywhere” anarchic comedy show from Graeme Garden, Bill Oddie and Tim Brooke-Taylor.
Highlife (2021)
Docu-ality series following the lives and loves of a group of ambitious, glamorous, young British West Africans who are all chasing their own idea of success.
Starring Irene Agbontaen, Bernicia Boateng and Chiefer.
Murder Island (Season 1, 2021)
A body’s discovered. The murder investigation begins. But this is no ordinary mystery, but one set by crime writer Ian Rankin as eight ordinary members of the public compete to find the killer.
Starring Sarah Mwaka, Richmond Kissi and Malcolm Cumming.
Brick Lane (2007)
Tannishtha Chatterjee plays a young Bangladeshi woman living on the estates of London’s Brick Lane. Based on the bestselling novel by Monica Ali.
Genova (2008)
Colin Firth plays a widower who takes his two daughters to Genova, Italy, where a new job offers some solace for their loss but memories are still dangerously stirred
Life is Sweet (1990)
This invigorating film from Mike Leigh was his first international sensation. Melancholy and funny by turns, it is an intimate portrait of a working-class family in a suburb just north of London.
An irrepressible mum and dad (Alison Steadman and Jim Broadbent) and their night-and-day twins, a bookish good girl and a troubled, ill-tempered layabout (Claire Skinner and Jane Horrocks).
Screw (2022)
Rob Williams’ darkly comic drama portrays life in prison as you’ve never seen it before: through the embattled and inspiring characters who work there.
Starring Nina Sosanya and Jamie-Lee O’Donnell.
I Am… (2019)
Female-led drama anthology series of stand-alone programmes, starring some of Britain’s leading actors including Lesley Manville, Suranne Jones, Letitia Wright, Gemma Chan, Vicky McClure and Samantha Morton.
April 7
37 Days (Season 1, 2014)
BBC drama miniseries revealing the complex, behind-closed-doors story of the final weeks before the outbreak of World War I.
Starring Tim Pigott-Smith, Bill Paterson, Kenneth Cranham and Nicholas Farrell.
As Time Goes By (Seasons 5-9, 1996-2002)
Lionel and Jean, separated lovers, meet by chance when Lionel takes a young woman out on a date only to learn that she is Jean’s daughter.
Starring Judi Dench, Geoffrey Palmer, Moira Brooker and Philip Bretherton.
April 14
Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? (Miniseries, 2022)
BritBox Original: When Bobby Jones and Lady Frances “Frankie” Derwent play a round of golf, Bobby slices his ball over the edge of a cliff.
His ball is lost, but on the rocks below he finds the crumpled body of a dying man. With his final breath the man opens his eyes and gasps, ‘Why didn’t they ask Evans?’…
Armed only with the image of a beautiful young woman found in the dead man’s pocket, the amateur sleuths must solve the case.
Cosy crime-drama featuring an all-star cast including Will Poulter, Lucy Boynton and Jonathan Jules.
Hugh Laurie (who also directed the series), Jim Broadbent and Emma Thompson make guest appearances.
Gerry Anderson: A Life Uncharted (2022)
BritBox Original: A national treasure, Gerry Anderson’s career spanned 60 years, and he created some of the world’s most beloved children’s television series including Thunderbirds, Stingray, Captain Scarlet, Space:1999, Terrahawks, Space Precinct and many more, some of which were produced alongside his ex-wife Sylvia.
Released a decade after his death, this incredibly revealing, emotionally charged and deeply personal documentary will draw on exclusive access to over 30 hours of previously unpublished interviews, in order to share the untold stories that defined his life and body of work.
Jesus of Nazareth (Miniseries, 1977)
Beginning before the Nativity and extending through the Crucifixion and Resurrection, this miniseries brings to life all of the sweeping drama in the life of Jesus, as told by the Gospels.
Starring Robert Powell, Olivia Hussey and Anne Bancroft.
Becoming Jane (2007)
A passionate romance with roguish barrister Tom Lefroy serves as the inspiration for the works of budding novelist Jane Austen.
Starring Anne Hathaway, James McAvoy, Julie Walters and James Cromwell.
April 21
Boon (Series 1-2, 1986-1987)
When ex-fireman Ken Boon’s services are advertised in the local paper with the words `Anything Legal Considered’, he finds himself taking on a variety of jobs.
With help from ex-colleague Harry, his career as a courier, bodyguard and PI begins. Starring Michael Elphick, David Daker and Neil Morrissey.
Britain’s Most Expensive Houses (Season 1, 2020)
With exclusive access to UK Sotheby’s International Realty, we peek behind the doors of some of the most incredible homes, as brokers set about selling jaw-dropping houses.
The Mrs Bradley Mysteries: Speedy Death (1998)
The emancipated Mrs. Bradley attends her ex-husband’s funeral and segues to the estate of her paralyzed goddaughter, who is hosting an engagement party.
Starring Diana Rigg, Neil Dudgeon, and John Alderton.
Escape to the Chateau (Seasons 1-7, 2016-2020)
Lt. Col. Dick Strawbridge and his partner Angel Adoree trade in their two-bed apartment in Essex for a dilapidated 19th-century French chateau, and work tirelessly to restore it back to its former glory.
With a limited budget to renovate 45 rooms, as well as improve and maintain acres of land, it is a huge task for the couple who want to create a beautiful venue for weddings and events.
April 28
Remember Me (Season 1, 2014)
Tom Parfitt fakes an injury in order to escape from his monotonous lifestyle and head to a care centre. However, upon his arrival, the staff experiences several strange instances, including a murder.
Starring Michael Palin, Jamie Rooney-West, Jodie Comer and Julia Sawalha.
Surgical Spirit (Seasons 1-2, 1989-1990)
Following Sheila Sabatini, a senior surgeon at the Gillies Hospital whose verbal skills have most people running for cover.
She dominates the operating theatre, while dealing with divorcing her husband Remo, with whom she had a son, Daniel.
Starring Nichola McAuliffe, Marji Campi, Duncan Preston and Emlyn Price.
Capturing Mary (2007)
Joe, the caretaker of a large mansion, coaxes its former luminary Mary to share her memories about the mansion. As Mary begins to recount her past, she reminisces about a stranger.
Starring Maggie Smith, Ruth Wilson, David Walliams and Danny Lee Wynter.