Moviedrome was a British television cult film series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC2 from 8 May 1988 to 9 July 2000. Its remit was to broadcast a selection of cult films each with an introduction, first by film director Alex Cox and later by film critic Mark Cousins. The producer and director of the series was Nick Freand Jones. During its run, 207 different films were shown.
History Moviedrome went into development in the late 1980s when BBC producer Nick Freand Jones put together the idea of screening a number of licensed films available within the BBC archives, some of which that had not yet been broadcast. The idea followed a specific film, considered a cult classic, that would be shown on a weekly basis, preceded by an introduction on the film's background, similar to BBC series The Film Club (1986 to 1991).
Jones looked to director and screenwriter Alex Cox to present the series. Cox, known for his directorial features Repo Man, Sid and Nancy and Walker, had previously introduced John Boorman's crime thriller Point Blank and Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye for The Film Club, and was chosen as the front-man for Moviedrome. Cox applied his own unique style to each introduction, as he would educate the viewer, in detail, on the particular film, exploring the genres and themes present within them. As a rule, early screenings of the series were limited to English language-only films, whereas foreign acquisitions had to be dubbed.
On 8 May 1988, Moviedrome premiered on BBC2, and remained a popular late-night Sunday staple for several years, opening with a previously unseen version of The Wicker Man, containing newly restored footage. During Cox's era on the show, he presented 141 films over seven series; those selected consisting of a wide variety of genres, including westerns, Crime thrillers, horrors, sci-fi films and film noir. From the fourth series onwards, the series began to present some films in double bill format. Titles included Johnny Guitar, One-Eyed Jacks, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Five Easy Pieces, Halloween, An American Werewolf in London, Badlands, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, The Thing from Another World, Sweet Smell of Success, Sunset Boulevard, Carrie and Invasion of the Body Snatchers plus its 1978 remake. Some even received UK network premieres, such as, The Long Hair of Death, Carnival of Souls, The Terminator, Vamp, Knightriders, Manhunter, Mad Max 2, Dead Ringers, Rabid, Cry-Baby and Cox's 1987 film Walker. The final film presented was Kiss Me Deadly, when the series concluded on 11 September 1994.
The series was revived in 1997, when Alex Cox was replaced with filmmaker and critic Mark Cousins. Cousins' presentation style differed greatly from Cox's, as well as the film selection being that of more contemporary works, rather than the usual classics. Cousins was also less critical, whereas Cox didn’t shy away from pointing out a particular film's bad points if necessary. On 8 June 1997, Moviedrome returned with Scarface, the first of 66 films presented by Cousins. This was followed by Logan's Run, The Fog, Vanishing Point, All That Heaven Allows, Shaft, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, Videodrome, Walkabout, Don't Look Now, and several network premieres, with Dazed and Confused, Exotica, La Haine, Spanking the Monkey, Darkness in Tallinn, Storyville, Liebestraum, Highway Patrolman, Funny Bones, Leon, Clockers and Prêt-à-Porter. The final episode screened on 9 July 2000 with The Last American Hero.
A documentary, Moviedrome: Welcome to the Cult, was released in 2025.
Episodes Series overview
Opening with the title Moviedrome in neon lights, a lone saxophone wails as the camera pulls back to reveal the inside of a desert motel room into which Alex Cox casually enters. The saxophone is an excerpt from Tom Waits's "Small Change (Got Rained On With His Own .38)", from his 1976 album Small Change. In subsequent years, the title sequences became more elaborate and funny.
Presented by Alex Cox
Series 1 (1988) overall inseriesFilmYearBroadcast date The Wicker Man 1973 8 May 1988 Electra Glide in Blue 1973 15 May 1988 Diva 1981 22 May 1988 Razorback 1984 29 May 1988 Big Wednesday 1978 5 June 1988 Fat City 1972 12 June 1988 The Last Picture Show 1971 19 June 1988 Barbarella 1968 26 June 1988 The Hired Hand 1971 3 July 1988 Johnny Guitar 1954 10 July 1988 The Parallax View 1974 17 July 1988 The Long Hair of Death 1964 24 July 1988 Invasion of the Body Snatchers 1956 31 July 1988 The Fly 1958 7 August 1988 One from the Heart 1982 14 August 1988 The Man Who Fell to Earth 1976 21 August 1988 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly 1966 28 August 1988 One-Eyed Jacks 1961 4 September 1988
Series 2 (1989) overall inseriesFilmYearBroadcast date The Man with X-Ray Eyes 1963 7 May 1989 Jabberwocky 1977 14 May 1989 D.O.A. 1950 21 May 1989 The Thing from Another World 1951 28 May 1989 The Incredible Shrinking Man 1957 4 June 1989 California Dolls 1981 11 June 1989 THX 1138 1971 25 June 1989 Stardust Memories 1980 2 July 1989 Night of the Comet 1984 9 July 1989 The Grissom Gang 1971 16 July 1989 Ace in the Hole 1951 23 July 1989 Alphaville 1965 30 July 1989 Two-Lane Blacktop 1971 6 August 1989 Trancers 1984 13 August 1989 The Buddy Holly Story 1978 20 August 1989 Five Easy Pieces 1970 27 August 1989 Sweet Smell of Success 1957 3 September 1989 Sunset Boulevard 1950 10 September 1989
Series 3 (1990) overall inseriesFilmYearBroadcast date Assault on Precinct 13 1976 6 May 1990 Brazil 1985 13 May 1990 Get Carter 1971 20 May 1990 Goin' South 1978 27 May 1990 Dead of Night 1945 10 June 1990 The Terminator 1984 24 June 1990 The Honeymoon Killers 1970 1 July 1990 Ulzana's Raid 1972 8 July 1990 The Loved One 1965 15 July 1990 An American Werewolf in London 1981 22 July 1990 Yojimbo 1961 29 July 1990 A Wedding 1978 5 August 1990 The Phenix City Story 1955 12 August 1990 Walk on the Wildside 1962 19 August 1990 The Big Silence 1968 26 August 1990 A Bullet for the General 1966 2 September 1990 Down by Law 1986 9 September 1990
Series 4 (1991) overall inseriesFilmYearBroadcast date The Beguiled 1971 19 May 1991 Vamp 1986 26 May 1991 Knightriders 1981 2 June 1991 Something Wild 1986 9 June 1991 Carnival of Souls 1962 23 June 1991 Badlands 197330 June 1991 The Prowler 1951 Performance 1970 7 July 1991 At Close Range 1986 14 July 1991 The Duellists 197721 July 1991 Cape Fear 1962 The Music Lovers 1971 28 July 1991 Manhunter 1986 4 August 1991 Hells Angels on Wheels 196718 August 1991 Rumble Fish 1983 What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? 1962 25 August 1991 Solaris 1972 1 September 1991 Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters 1985 8 September 1991
Series 5 (1992) overall inseriesFilmYearBroadcast date Mad Max 2 198124 May 1992 F for Fake 1973 Dead Ringers 198831 May 1992 Rabid 1977 Junior Bonner 1972 7 June 1992 The Serpent and the Rainbow 1988 14 June 1992 Les Diaboliques 1955 28 June 1992 The Spider's Stratagem 1970 5 July 1992 Escape from New York 1981 12 July 1992 Alligator 198019 July 1992 Q – The Winged Serpent 1982 Wise Blood 197926 July 1992 Witchfinder General 1968 Lolita 1962 2 August 1992 Play Misty for Me 1971 9 August 1992 Walker 1987 16 August 1992 Tracks 1976 23 August 1992 The Day of the Locust 197530 August 1992 The Big Knife 1955
Series 6 (1993) overall inseriesFilmYearBroadcast date Darkman 1990 30 May 1993 House of Games 1987 6 June 1993 Escape from Alcatraz 197913 June 1993 A Man Escaped 1956 The Hill 1965 20 June 1993 Cry-Baby 199027 June 1993 Lenny 1974 Invasion of the Body Snatchers 19784 July 1993 Romance of a Horsethief 1971 Gothic 198611 July 1993 The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey 1988 Weekend 1967 18 July 1993 Rebel Without a Cause 195525 July 1993 200 Motels 1971 Django 19661 August 1993 Grim Prairie Tales 1990 Run of the Arrow 19578 August 1993 Verboten! 1959 The Long Riders 1980 15 August 1993 The Big Combo 1955 22 August 1993 Face to Face 1967 29 August 1993 Requiescant 1967 5 September 1993 What Have I Done to Deserve This? 1984 19 September 1993 Carrie 1976 26 September 1993
Series 7 (1994) overall inseriesFilmYearBroadcast date The Andromeda Strain 197115 May 1994 Fiend Without a Face 1958 Talk Radio 1988 22 May 1994 Carnal Knowledge 1971 29 May 1994 Coogan's Bluff 19685 June 1994 The Narrow Margin 1952 The Harder They Come 1972 19 June 1994 Salvador 1986 26 June 1994 The People Under the Stairs 1991 3 July 1994 Halloween 197810 July 1994 The Baby 1973 Carny 1980 17 July 1994 Girl on a Motorcycle 196824 July 1994 Psychomania 1973 Race with the Devil 197531 July 1994 Detour 1945 Rope 19487 August 1994 84 Charlie Mopic 1989 To Sleep with Anger 199014 August 1994 Contempt 1963 Excalibur 198121 August 1994 Nothing Lasts Forever 1984 Naked Tango 199028 August 1994 Apartment Zero 1989 Major Dundee 19654 September 1994 Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia 1974 Kiss Me Deadly 1955 11 September 1994
Presented by Mark Cousins
Series 8 (1997) overall inseriesFilmYearBroadcast date Scarface 1983 8 June 1997 Westworld 197315 June 1997 Demon Seed 1977 The Fly 198622 June 1997 Society 1989 Exotica 1994 29 June 1997 Blue Collar 197813 July 1997 American Gigolo 1980 Dazed and Confused 199320 July 1997 The Sex Lives of the Belgians 1994 The Girl Can't Help It 195627 July 1997 Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatjana 1994 The Warriors 19793 August 1997 La Haine 1995 Spanking the Monkey 1994 10 August 1997 Logan's Run 197617 August 1997 Fahrenheit 451 1966
Series 9 (1998) overall inseriesFilmYearBroadcast date The Fog 19804 January 1998 Darkness in Tallinn 1993 Storyville 199211 January 1998 Ruthless 1948 Vanishing Point 197118 January 1998 The Devil Thumbs a Ride 1947 Targets 1968 1 February 1998 Liebestraum 1991 8 February 1998 Bad Timing 1980 15 February 1998 The Conversation 1974 22 February 1998 All That Heaven Allows 19551 March 1998 The Reckless Moment 1949 Highway Patrolman 1991 8 March 1998
Series 10 (1998) overall inseriesFilmYearBroadcast date Trespass 1992 20 September 1998 Shaft 197127 September 1998 Force of Evil 1948 Funny Bones 1995 4 October 1998 Cat People 1982 11 October 1998 The Killers 1946 18 October 1998 Caged Heat 1974 25 October 1998 Thunderbolt and Lightfoot 1974 1 November 1998 Carrie 1976 8 November 1998 Leon 199415 November 1998 Le Samouraï 1967
Series 11 (1999) overall inseriesFilmYearBroadcast date Clockers 1995 18 April 1999 Ed Wood 199525 April 1999 The Body Snatcher 1945 Prêt-à-Porter 1994 2 May 1999 Videodrome 19839 May 1999 Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye 1950 Carlito's Way 1993 16 May 1999 The Osterman Weekend 1983 23 May 1999 Mommie Dearest 1981 6 June 1999 Johnny Guitar 1954 11 June 1999 Branded to Kill 1967 18 June 1999 The List of Adrian Messenger 1963 20 June 1999 One-Eyed Jacks 1961 11 July 1999
Series 12 (2000) overall inseriesFilmYearBroadcast date Blood and Wine 199614 May 2000 Plein Soleil 1960 Rumble in the Bronx 199521 May 2000 Clubbed to Death 1997 The Underneath 19954 June 2000 The Hitch-Hiker 1953 The Killers 196411 June 2000 On Dangerous Ground 1951 Walkabout 197118 June 2000 Don't Look Now 1973 White of the Eye 1987 2 July 2000 The Last American Hero 1973 9 July 2000
Note: Although some episodes (including both singular, and the second film of the double bill episodes) were broadcast after 12:00am and into the early hours of Monday mornings, they will remain dated for the Sunday night broadcast schedules to avoid confusion.
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