RICHARD CURTIS BACK AND FORTH

Some of Richard Curtis’s other excursions into fantasy

Blackadder Back And Forth (1999)

Ten years after Edmund Blackadder met his maker in no-man’s-land, the Blackadder team reconvened for this 33-minute special made specially for screening in the then-brand new Millennium Dome. Curtis described the film, which had a 1999-era Lord Blackadder travelling through time in a specially-built time machine, as “an irreverent trek through British history – a time travel adventure story consisting entirely of people who are either rude or stupid.”

Doctor Who: “Vincent And The Doctor” (2010)

Richard Curtis was Steven Moffat’s big signing for his first season as Doctor Who showrunner. Curtis previously exec-produced Moffat’s Comic Relief Doctor Who skit “The Curse Of Fatal Death”. His script for Matt Smith’s Doctor is an unflinching but ultimately uplifting examination of depression – in this case, Vincent van Gogh’s (poignantly played by Tony Curran). More archetypal Richard Curtis than a typical Doctor Who episode, it won nominations for both a Nebula (Outstanding Dramatic Presentation) and Hugo (Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form).

About Time (2013)

Domhnall Gleeson headlines as a twentysomething singleton who finds that he can travel through time after his father (Bill Nighy) confides in him that it’s a power the male members of his family possess. It’s as big-hearted as any of Curtis’s other flicks (it’s a rom-com in science fiction clothing). Gleeson brings oodles of charm to the role of the lovestruck Tim Lake, with a stellar turn by Rachel Mcadams as the Kate Moss-obsessed Mary. The sci-fi aspects may not hold up to close scrutiny, but in Gleeson and Mcadams he found an on-screen couple every bit as charming as Hugh Grant and Andie Mcdowell.