Streaming on BritBox this week – quick links
BritBox: new this week
The Pact Season 1 – 12 February
Series. In this six-episode crime thriller, four colleagues at a brewery make a reckless decision after their tyrannical young boss humiliates them at a centenary party. As a drunken prank, they abduct him and decide to leave him abandoned in the woods overnight to fend for himself. The next morning, they return only to discover him dead.
Bound by a fragile pact of silence, the women navigate a tense web of police investigations, blackmail and suspicion. As secrets unravel, shocking revelations surface, and one friend takes the fall, altering their lives forever.
Starring Rakie Ayola (Grace), Laura Fraser (Irvine Welsh’s Crime, Breaking Bad), Julie Hesmondhalgh (Broadchurch, Happy Valley), Eiry Thomas (Keeping Faith), Jason Hughes (Midsomer Murders, Marcella) and Aneurin Barnard (Steeltown Murders, The Catch).
Quant – 13 February
Documentary (2021). One of Britain’s most renowned cultural figures and credited with the invention of the miniskirt, Mary Quant was a vanguard of the stylistic revolution of the ’60s and ’70s.
The renowned designer led the charge away from convention and conservatism through the championing of ground-breaking designs, plus an ingeniously creative partnership with hair stylist Vidal Sassoon. This cinematic and stylistic documentary portrait chronicles her rise, from a childhood on the Welsh countryside to her very first store on London’s legendary King’s Road, through to the development of a global empire.
BritBox: recently added
Our Welsh Chapel Dream Season 2 – 4 February
Series. This renovation series follows a master potter and his partner as they transform a dilapidated, 160-year-old Victorian chapel into their forever home and a working pottery studio.
Season two presents unprecedented challenges. The pair launch straight into battle with a fast-spreading fungus, tearing it out before it destroys the chapel entirely. With the structure saved, attention turns to detail and design, as they create a richly atmospheric Victorian-style parlour bathroom. The season rounds off with completing the master bedroom, marking the moment the once-derelict chapel finally begins to feel like home.
I Am Ruth – 5 February
Film (2022). When single mother Ruth, played by Kate Winslet (Titanic, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), notices her daughter withdrawing from the world and sinking under the weight of social media, she fights to reconnect before their bond is lost.
This critically acclaimed, BAFTA-winning single drama – which earned Winslet a BAFTA for Best Leading Actress and took home the BAFTA for Best Single Drama – follows the heartbreaking challenges of teenage addiction. As Freya, played by Kate Winslet’s real-life daughter Mia Threapleton (The Phoenician Scheme, A Little Chaos, Shadows) becomes increasingly obsessed with her phone, hardships emerge. It derails her schooling and communication, sparking tense, emotional confrontations that test the limits of their relationship.
Call the Midwife Season 15 – 13 January
Series. The much-loved period drama returns with its latest season, bringing viewers back to Nonnatus House in 1971. As the resident nurses and nuns navigate life-and-death medical emergencies with their trademark compassion and courage, the Women’s Liberation movement begins to ripple through their community, and some of the ladies are inspired to take a bold stand of their own. This season tackles a wide range of gripping cases, from premature births and tuberculosis to kidney cancer and slavery.
Starring Jenny Agutter (The Avengers), Linda Bassett (Lark Rise to Candleford), Judy Parfitt (Up the Women), Helen George (Dark Matters), Laura Main (Doctors), Stephen McGann (Casualty), Cliff Parisi (EastEnders), Annabelle Apsion (The Halcyon) and Georgie Glen (Hetty Feather).
The Last Station – 16 January
Film (2009). This moving historical drama chronicles the turbulent final months of Leo Tolstoy’s life, finding the celebrated Russian writer caught between his ideals, his devoted followers, and the fierce love of his wife, Sofya.
Starring Helen Mirren, Christopher Plummer, Paul Giamatti, Anne-Marie Duff, Kerry Condon and James McAvoy.
The Guest – 22 January
Series. This brand new psychological thriller follows Ria Powell, a cleaner at rock bottom, whose chance encounter with the dazzling and wealthy Fran Sharp pulls her into a world of glamour and opportunity. But it comes at a cost. As Ria becomes increasingly enmeshed in Fran’s luxurious orbit, their bond twists into a dangerous game of power, obsession and deceit. Stylish, tense and full of sharp social commentary, The Guest offers a gripping look at how easily admiration can curdle into something far darker.
Starring Gabrielle Creevy (In My Skin, Black Doves), Eve Myles (Torchwood, Killing Eve), Clive Russell (Game of Thrones, Ripper Street), Emun Elliot (Paradise, Game of Thrones), Julian Lewis Jones (Justice League, House of Dragons) and Sion Daniel Young (Lost Boys & Fairies, Slow Horses).
Rose West: Born Evil? – 30 January
Documentary (2021). This chilling made-for-television documentary re-examines the life of serial killer Rose West, probing her past, psychology and relationships in a bid to understand how she became one of Britain’s most notorious and sadistic criminals.
