Rosalind Knight

Rosalind Knight

Born in Marylebone, London, versatile character actress Rosalind Marie Knight was born to theatrical parentage. Her father was the accomplished thespian Esmond Knight. Her mother, the comedienne Frances Clare, often featured in Ivor Novello operettas. Rosalind's interest in theatre was first kindled at the age of six when she and her mother attended a staging of Novello's "The Dancing Years" at Drury Lane. Rosalind was evacuated to the countryside with her nanny during the war years. In 1949, she accompanied her father to the Old Vic Theatre and became enthralled by a production of "The Snow Queen", primarily performed by drama school novices. The following year she won an audition and spent two years at the Old Vic Theatre School. This was succeeded by a lengthy apprenticeship in repertory which led to her gaining further experience as assistant stage manager for the West of England Theatre Company, the Midland Theatre Company in Coventry and the Piccolo Theatre Company in Manchester. In 1955, she made her first impact on screen as a lady-in-waiting in Laurence Olivier's Richard III (1955), which also featured her father in the cast. A year later, having come to the attention of a movie producer, she played Annabel, one of the schoolgirls, in Blue Murder at St. Trinian's (1957) (decades later, she would return as a teacher in the sequel The Wildcats of St. Trinian's (1980)). This set the tone for a number of subsequent comedic roles which included a couple of early Carry On's and the Tony Richardson-directed Tom Jones (1963), in which she played the giddy Mrs. Harriet Fitzpatrick. While doing the Carry On films she was not under any form of contract and was paid a mere $50 a week. In 1957, Rosalind joined her father in an early BBC adaptation of Nicholas Nickleby (1957) as the spiteful Fanny Squeers. In a later miniseries based on Charles Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit (1964), she was a splendidly shrewish Charity Pecksniff. During her prolific career, Rosalind relished every opportunity to portray a diverse range of characters, good and bad, from servants to princesses (Alice of Battenberg in The Crown (2016)) to old maids (Aspasia Fitzgibbon in The Pallisers (1974)) to wealthy socialites (Margot Asquith in Nancy Astor (1982)) and unpleasant aristocratic dowagers (Daphne Winkworth in Jeeves and Wooster (1990)). She even essayed a retired prostitute turned landlady in the sitcom Gimme Gimme Gimme (1999). In addition to a staple of period dramas she guested in numerous episodic TV dramas, including Poirot (1989), Dalziel and Pascoe (1996), Heartbeat (1992), Marple (2004), Midsomer Murders (1997) and Sherlock (2010). All the while, she remained heavily engaged in theatrical work with the Old Vic, The Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Court Theatre, her last appearance being the strict, incorruptible governess Mrs. Prism in Shaw's "The Importance of Being Earnest". Rosalind was married to director/producer Michael Elliott from 1959. In 1976, she helped rebuild and re-open the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester, of which her husband was involved as one of five artistic directors. She was also a patron of the Actor's Centre in London and the Ladies' Theatrical Guild (a charity founded in 1891). Rosalind Knight continued to perform as an actress right up to her death on December 19 2020, at the age of 87.

  • Title: Rosalind Knight
  • Popularity: 4.788
  • Known For: Acting
  • Birthday: 1933-12-03
  • Place of Birth: Marylebone, London, England, UK
  • Homepage:
  • Also Known As:
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Rosalind Knight Movies

  • 2002
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    About a Boy

    About a Boy

    6.7 2002 HD

    Will Freeman is a good-looking, smooth-talking bachelor whose primary goal in life is avoiding any kind of responsibility. But when he invents an...

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  • 1979
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    The Lady Vanishes

    The Lady Vanishes

    6 1979 HD

    On the eve of World War II, zany heiress Amanda Kelly travels by train to Switzerland. While passing through Germany, she meets a sweet elderly lady,...

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  • 1959
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    Carry On Teacher

    Carry On Teacher

    6.1 1959 HD

    When a well-loved headmaster decides to retire, his scheming pupils have other ideas. The cunning boys unleash a campaign of practical jokes, armed...

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  • 1993
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    Royal Celebration

    Royal Celebration

    6 1993 HD

    A bittersweet drama about a street party held in a suburban London square to mark the 1981 Royal Wedding. After two years of the Thatcher...

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  • 1977
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    That's Carry On!

    That's Carry On!

    5.8 1977 HD

    Celebrating twenty years of classic Carry On films, two of the films’ best-loved stars, Kenneth Williams and Barbara Windsor return to Pinewood...

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  • 1970
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    Start the Revolution Without Me

    Start the Revolution Without Me

    5.8 1970 HD

    Two sets of identical twins are accidentally switched at birth. One pair, Phillipe and Pierre DeSisi, are aristocratic and haughty, while the other,...

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  • 1960
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    There Was a Crooked Man

    There Was a Crooked Man

    6.1 1960 HD

    When a law-abiding demolition expert is duped by a gang of criminals into helping them he is caught and jailed. When he is released he goes straight...

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  • 1975
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    Eskimo Nell

    Eskimo Nell

    3.9 1975 HD

    Three young men, a scriptwriter, a producer and a director are called in by Benny U Murdoch, an exotic movie producer. He wants to make a new erotic...

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  • 1975
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    The Old Curiosity Shop

    The Old Curiosity Shop

    4.5 1975 HD

    A kindly shop owner whose overwhelming gambling debts allow a greedy landlord to seize his shop of dusty treasures. Evicted and with no way to pay...

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  • 1959
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    Carry On Nurse

    Carry On Nurse

    6.2 1959 HD

    In Haven Hospital, a certain men's ward is causing more havoc than the whole hospital altogether. The formidable Matron's debut gives everyone a...

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  • 2021
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    Friday Night Dinner: 10 Years and a Lovely Bit of Squirrel

    Friday Night Dinner: 10 Years and a Lovely Bit of Squirrel

    7.8 2021 HD

    With exclusive interviews and outtakes, this anniversary special celebrates a decade of Robert Popper's iconic comedy, from celebrity fans to Paul...

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  • 1992
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    Swords at Teatime

    Swords at Teatime

    1 1992 HD

    Michael climbs on to the roof of the block of flats where he lives with his mother, and finds a world of make-believe, duels, and chickens existing...

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  • 2015
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    The Lady in the Van

    The Lady in the Van

    6.4 2015 HD

    The true story of the relationship between Alan Bennett and the singular Miss Shepherd, a woman of uncertain origins who ‘temporarily’...

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  • 2009
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    The Alchemistic Suitcase

    The Alchemistic Suitcase

    4.2 2009 HD

    A nervous and unsettling young boy takes a mysterious old suitcase across London... to a twisted and surreal conclusion.

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  • 1960
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    Doctor in Love

    Doctor in Love

    5.5 1960 HD

    Doctors Burke and Hare leave the confines of St Swithins for the world of general practice, stopping off on the way as patients at the Foulness...

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  • 1963
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    As You Like It

    As You Like It

    1 1963 HD

    One of the earliest hits for the newly established RSC, Michael Elliott’s sparkling version of Shakespeare's comedy is still remembered with...

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  • 1980
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    The Wildcats of St. Trinian's

    The Wildcats of St. Trinian's

    4.4 1980 HD

    The girls of St. Trinian's decide they are being asked to do too much work so they go on strike.

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  • 2007
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    The Shell Seekers

    The Shell Seekers

    7 2007 HD

    Penelope Keeling, a sixty-four-year-old daughter of a famous artist, reflects on her life, and the fate and choices that defined it, when she arrives...

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  • 1976
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    It Could Happen to You

    It Could Happen to You

    1 1976 HD

    An educational film about the perils associated with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). The drama is interspersed with scenes of a medical adviser...

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  • 1987
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    Claws

    Claws

    1 1987 HD

    A tale of cat lovers, the social circle they inhabit and the power struggles between them.

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  • 1991
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    Afraid of the Dark

    Afraid of the Dark

    5.3 1991 HD

    A little boy, obsessed with blindness and violence, slowly gets trapped in his own delusions.

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  • 1987
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    Prick Up Your Ears

    Prick Up Your Ears

    6.6 1987 HD

    When the young, attractive Joe Orton meets the older, more introverted Kenneth Halliwell at drama school, he befriends the kindred spirit and they...

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  • 1998
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    Gunslinger's Revenge

    Gunslinger's Revenge

    4.5 1998 HD

    The idealistic lifestyle of an old West farmer, his Indian wife, and half-breed son is interrupted when the boy's old gunslinger father returns. They...

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  • 1994
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    Pleasure

    Pleasure

    8 1994 HD

    Alan Bleasdale's modern re-telling of Madame Bovary. A tale of passion, greed, revenge, and of course pleasure, set in France. Starring Line of...

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  • 1973
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    Baby Blues

    Baby Blues

    1 1973 HD

    Lavinia has been yearning and trying for ten years to conceive, and finally gives birth to a live baby. However, she finds that things are not as she...

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  • 1995
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    Solitaire for 2

    Solitaire for 2

    4 1995 HD

    Katie can read minds. Being desirable, the male minds she reads are all thinking of one thing. She always responds by hitting them and storming off...

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  • 1957
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    Fortune Is a Woman

    Fortune Is a Woman

    6.7 1957 HD

    An insurance man discovers his ex-girlfriend and her husband's art-forgery/arson scam.

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  • 1961
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    The Kitchen

    The Kitchen

    7 1961 HD

    In the business end of a kitchen, a polyglot staff strives to cope with a superhuman task. A microcosm of the world, the kitchen looms around and...

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  • 1957
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    Blue Murder at St. Trinian's

    Blue Murder at St. Trinian's

    6.304 1957 HD

    With their headmistress under lock and key in her majesty's prison, the St Trinian's girls find themselves under the protection of the army. However,...

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  • 2011
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    The Lost World Cup

    The Lost World Cup

    7.2 2011 HD

    The film reconstructs the mysterious story of the 1942 Patagonia World Soccer championship, never acknowledged by the official sports organizations,...

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  • 1968
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    On the Eve of Publication

    On the Eve of Publication

    1 1968 HD

    TV play by David Mercer. First in a trilogy concerning Marxist novelist Robert Kelvin. The occasion is a dinner party, Kelvin is concerned with a...

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  • 1963
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    Tom Jones

    Tom Jones

    5.916 1963 HD

    Tom loves Sophie and Sophie loves Tom. But Tom and Sophie are of differering classes. Can they find a way through the mayhem to be true to love?

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  • 1982
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    The Disappearance of Harry

    The Disappearance of Harry

    7 1982 HD

    Harry Webster (David Lyon) is an apparently normal husband and father who resides in contemporary Nottingham, England, which was once host to a...

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  • 1981
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    The Kindness of Mrs Radcliffe

    The Kindness of Mrs Radcliffe

    1 1981 HD

    A day in the life of Mrs Radcliffe , who believes that the advice she so freely gives is done only out of kindness.

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  • 1958
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    The Horse's Mouth

    The Horse's Mouth

    6.709 1958 HD

    Gulley Jimson is a boorish aging artist recently released from prison. A swindler in search of his next art project, he hunkers down in the penthouse...

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  • 1997
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    Midsomer Murders

    Midsomer Murders

    7.5 1997 HD

    The peacefulness of the Midsomer community is shattered by violent crimes, suspects are placed under suspicion, and it is up to a veteran DCI and his...

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  • 1994
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    Wycliffe

    Wycliffe

    6 1994 HD

    Wycliffe is a British television series, based on W. J. Burley's novels about Detective Superintendent Charles Wycliffe. It was produced by HTV and...

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  • 1990
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    Jeeves and Wooster

    Jeeves and Wooster

    8.014 1990 HD

    Jeeves and Wooster is a British comedy-drama series adapted by Clive Exton from P.G. Wodehouse's "Jeeves" stories. It aired on the ITV network from...

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  • 1962
    imgS9 E24

    The Beverly Hillbillies

    The Beverly Hillbillies

    6.9 1962 HD

    Jed Clampett's swamp is loaded with oil. When a wildcatter discovers the huge pool, Jed sells his land to the O.K. Oil Company and at the urging of...

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  • 1999
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    Gimme Gimme Gimme

    Gimme Gimme Gimme

    7 1999 HD

    Linda La Hughes shares a flat with Tom Farrell. Linda is overweight, loudmouthed and not particularly attractive. She thinks she's gorgeous and...

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  • 1992
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    Heartbeat

    Heartbeat

    7 1992 HD

    Set during the 1960s in the fictional North Yorkshire village of Aidensfield, this enduringly popular series interweaves crime and medical storylines.

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  • 1996
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    Dalziel & Pascoe

    Dalziel & Pascoe

    6.3 1996 HD

    British crime drama based on the "Dalziel and Pascoe" series of books by Reginald Hill, set in the fictional Yorkshire town of Wetherton. The...

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  • 1983
    imgS3 E8

    Up the Elephant and Round the Castle

    Up the Elephant and Round the Castle

    5.333 1983 HD

    Up the Elephant and Round the Castle was an ITV sitcom which aired from 1983 to 1985, starring comedian Jim Davidson, who played the role of Jim...

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  • 1968
    imgS1 E13

    Nicholas Nickleby

    Nicholas Nickleby

    1 1968 HD

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  • 1974
    imgS5 E13

    Within These Walls

    Within These Walls

    5.3 1974 HD

    Within These Walls is a British television drama programme made by London Weekend Television for ITV and shown between 1974 and 1978. It portrayed...

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  • 1989
    imgS13 E5

    Agatha Christie's Poirot

    Agatha Christie's Poirot

    8.1 1989 HD

    From England to Egypt, accompanied by his elegant and trustworthy sidekicks, the intelligent yet eccentrically-refined Belgian detective Hercule...

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  • 1957
    imgS1 E10

    Nicholas Nickleby

    Nicholas Nickleby

    1 1957 HD

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  • 1984
    imgS1 E7

    I Thought You'd Gone

    I Thought You'd Gone

    1 1984 HD

    Just when they were beginning to enjoy life alone, a middle-aged couple find their grown-up children wanting to return home.

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  • 1964
    imgS1 E13

    Martin Chuzzlewit

    Martin Chuzzlewit

    1 1964 HD

    When old Martin Chuzzlewit disinherits his grandson, he falls prey to a host of rapacious relatives.

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  • 1985
    imgS2 E5

    Mapp & Lucia

    Mapp & Lucia

    5.2 1985 HD

    Comedy, set during the 1930s, of social rivalry between two women in a small English town. New arrival Lucia (Geraldine McEwan, as Emmeline "Lucia"...

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  • 2011
    imgS6 E6

    Friday Night Dinner

    Friday Night Dinner

    7.831 2011 HD

    Two siblings share their Friday night dinners at their parents home and, somehow, something always goes wrong.

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  • 2001
    imgS1 E2

    Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story

    Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story

    6.8 2001 HD

    Wealthy developer Jack Robinson is stunned when a gigantic human skeleton is discovered on his building site. According to a mysterious woman, it is...

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  • 1964
    imgS6 E34

    The Wednesday Play

    The Wednesday Play

    4.5 1964 HD

    The Wednesday Play is an anthology series of British television plays which ran on BBC1 from October 1964 to May 1970. The plays were usually written...

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  • 1984
    imgS7 E6

    Sherlock Holmes

    Sherlock Holmes

    8.1 1984 HD

    Sherlock Holmes uses his abilities to take on cases by private clients and those that the Scotland Yard are unable to solve, along with his friend...

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  • 1998
    imgS1 E10

    Berkeley Square

    Berkeley Square

    7.7 1998 HD

    Three young women from very different backgrounds meet, become friends and share experiences when they all gain positions as nannies in the wealthy...

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  • 2010
    imgS4 E3

    Sherlock

    Sherlock

    8.5 2010 HD

    A modern update finds the famous sleuth and his doctor partner solving crime in 21st century London.

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  • 2016
    imgS6 E10

    The Crown

    The Crown

    8.212 2016 HD

    The gripping, decades-spanning inside story of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the Prime Ministers who shaped Britain's post-war destiny. The...

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  • 1997
    imgS23 E4

    Midsomer Murders

    Midsomer Murders

    7.5 1997 HD

    The peacefulness of the Midsomer community is shattered by violent crimes, suspects are placed under suspicion, and it is up to a veteran DCI and his...

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  • 1974
    imgS8 E35

    Playhouse

    Playhouse

    7 1974 HD

    BBC2 Playhouse is a one hour UK anthology television series of one-off contemporary and classic dramas created by Sara Pia Anderson and produced by...

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