Nostalgia-focused channel Rewind TV is heading into April with a varied lineup of classic drama, beloved sitcoms, and late-night cult cinema.
The upcoming lineup includes a rare mini-series starring Gregory Peck and Christopher Plummer, a Frederick Forsyth espionage anthology, and a special screening of a film the BBC once banned – timed to mark 50 years since they pulled it.
“April’s lineup reflects exactly what Rewind TV was created for – rediscovering remarkable television and film that audiences may not have had the chance to see for years,” says Rewind TV co-founder Jonathan Moore.
Where to Find Rewind TV
Since launching on Sky in May 2024 and expanding to Freeview that September, Rewind TV has established itself as a reliable home for classic British programming that might otherwise remain locked in archives.
You can currently find it on Freeview Channel 81, Sky Channel 182 (satellite only), and Freely Channel 141 (only on the aerial-connected version of Freely).
The channel remains absent from Sky Stream, Sky Glass, and Freesat – unlike rival Talking Pictures TV, which has a Freely streaming channel and an app.
Second Thoughts
Second Thoughts starts April 1 at 12.40am and 7.00pm, and it’s a welcome return for a sitcom that found a loyal audience during its original run in the early 1990s.
Lynda Bellingham and James Bolam star as a middle-aged couple navigating the complications of remarriage and blended family life – grown-up children, clashing personalities, and the general messiness of starting over when you’re old enough to know better.
The series was co-written by Jan Butlin, and what set it apart from a lot of contemporaries was its willingness to treat its characters as actual adults with complicated lives rather than sitcom archetypes.
Belinda Lang and Julia Sawalha appear in supporting roles – Sawalha, of course, would go on to star in Press Gang and Absolutely Fabulous, and it’s an interesting early appearance here.
The Scarlet and the Black
The Scarlet and the Black starts April 11 at 4.20pm, with the second part airing the following night. The 1983 TV film is being split over two consecutive evenings – not unusual given its nearly two-and-a-half-hour running time.
The film is based on the true story of Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty, a Vatican priest who ran an underground network that helped Allied prisoners escape from Nazi-occupied Rome during the Second World War – a story that sounds almost too dramatic for television, but happened to be real.
Gregory Peck plays O’Flaherty, with Christopher Plummer as the SS commander Herbert Kappler working to stop him, and John Gielgud appearing as Pope Pius XII. That’s a fairly remarkable cast for a television production, and the performances live up to it.
Frederick Forsyth Presents
Frederick Forsyth Presents starts April 18 at 9.25pm, adapting a collection of espionage stories from the author best known for The Day of the Jackal and The Odessa File.
The series follows Sam McCready, a veteran British intelligence agent played by Alan Howard, whose methods tend to put him at odds with his superiors – a fairly familiar setup in the spy thriller genre, but Forsyth’s particular gift was always for procedural realism and geopolitical detail rather than action-movie theatrics.
Each episode is a standalone story set in a different location – spanning Europe, the Middle East, and beyond – with a guest cast that includes Elizabeth Hurley, Tony Lo Bianco, David Threlfall, Amanda Burton, and Clarke Peters.
After Hours: Cult Films and Late-Night Curiosities
Rewind TV’s After Hours strand continues into April with another collection of cult and rarely seen films from the late 1960s through to the early 1980s.
Specific broadcast times haven’t been announced for most of these titles yet, but as always, expect very late-night slots.
Brimstone and Treacle (1982)
This screening on April 6 is timed to mark 50 years since the BBC pulled its original television production of Dennis Potter’s controversial play on that date in 1976.
The film stars Sting, Denholm Elliott, Joan Plowright, and Suzanna Hamilton in Potter’s deeply unsettling story about a mysterious stranger who insinuates himself into the lives of a couple caring for their disabled daughter.
The BBC deemed it too disturbing to broadcast; it eventually reached screens as a feature film six years later.
Virgin Witch (1972)
A British cult horror following two sisters who head to London hoping to break into modelling and instead find themselves drawn into the orbit of a witches’ coven.
Stars Ann Michelle, Vicki Michelle, and Keith Buckley.
Not Now Darling (1973)
Adapted from the hit West End farce by Ray Cooney and John Chapman, with Leslie Phillips, Barbara Windsor, Joan Sims, Peter Butterworth, and Terry Scott in a door-slamming comedy of mistaken identities.
The Ups and Downs of a Handyman (1976)
Stars Barry Stokes, Gay Soper, and Bob Todd in a comedy about a handyman hired to renovate a country house whose work keeps getting interrupted by romantic chaos.
Confessions of a Sex Maniac (1974)
Notable mainly for an early appearance from Roger Lloyd Pack – later immortalised as Trigger in Only Fools and Horses – as an architect whose obsession with finding the perfect female form for a building project sends him on an increasingly absurd journey.
Hot Girls for Men Only (1967)
A tongue-in-cheek entry from the world of 1960s adult cinema, mixing humour and risqué situations in a style typical of the era.
Secrets of Sex (1969)
Directed by Antony Balch, this is a genuinely strange piece of work – part horror, part pseudo-documentary, part surrealist comedy – and one of the more unusual British films of its decade.
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