84 Charing Cross Road

BBC2 2.25pm - 4.00pm ★★★★

drama ⊲ Author Helen Hanff ’s literary memoir is transformed into a gentle, offbeat love story in which the two protagonists are kept apart. The central role is beautifully performed by Anne Bancroft, as the brash American writer who instigates a correspondence spanning 20 years with a middle-aged London bookseller (Anthony Hopkins). The occasional device of addressing the camera does not quite work, but otherwise this absorbing drama is a joy to watch. Dir: David Jones 1987, U, 95min