BFI announces full programme for Moviedrome retrospective

The BFI has announced the full programme for Moviedrome: Bringing the Cult TV Series to the Big Screen, a two-month retrospective celebrating the groundbreaking BBC2 series Moviedrome, which ran from 1988 to 2000. Launched at a time when UK viewers had access to just four TV channels, the series became a cultural touchstone for lovers of cult cinema, thanks to its eclectic programming and memorable introductions by hosts Alex Cox and Mark Cousins.

Opening on 4 July at BFI Southbank, the season will honour the show’s enduring legacy through screenings of landmark films originally featured on Moviedrome, many of which have since become cult classics. Wherever possible, the BFI will present the films with their original broadcast introductions.

The season begins with Welcome to the Moviedrome, a special event featuring presenter Alex Cox and series producer—and season curator—Nick Freand Jones in conversation with broadcaster Samira Ahmed. The evening will conclude with a screening of The Wicker Man (Final Cut) (Robin Hardy, 1973), introduced by Cox and Freand Jones. The British folk-horror was originally released in truncated form, but a longer version premiered during Moviedrome‘s inaugural broadcast in 1988. The version screening at the BFI is the 2013 Final Cut.

Cox will also introduce several other titles during the opening weekend, including his own Walker (1987) on 5 July, Sweet Smell of Success (Alexander MacKendrick, 1957), and The Great Silence (Sergio Corbucci, 1968) on 6 July. Meanwhile, Freand Jones will present screenings of The Fly (Kurt Neumann, 1958) on 5 July, Les Diaboliques (Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1955) on 8 July, Two-Lane Blacktop (Monte Hellman, 1971) on 9 July, and California Dolls (Robert Aldrich, 1981) on 23 July.

Additional highlights include a screening of Witchfinder General (Michael Reeves, 1968) on 11 July, introduced by actor and horror aficionado Reece Shearsmith, and Exotica (Atom Egoyan, 1994) on 30 July, which will feature a pre-recorded introduction by Egoyan himself.

To complement the season at BFI Southbank, the BFI Player will launch a new curated subscription collection on 10 July. It will feature films that achieved cult status in the UK thanks to Moviedrome, including Five Easy Pieces (Bob Rafelson, 1970), Fat City (John Huston, 1970), The Last Picture Show (Peter Bogdanovich, 1971), The Honeymoon Killers(Leonard Kastle, 1970), Django (Sergio Corbucci, 1966), Highway Patrolman (Alex Cox, 1991), Society (Brian Yuzna, 1989), and many others. The platform will also premiere a new BFI-produced documentary short directed by Nic Wassell, exploring Moviedrome‘s history and influence.

The extensive screening programme at BFI Southbank will span over two dozen titles. These include formative genre works like The Fly (David Cronenberg, 1986), Escape from New York (John Carpenter, 1981), and Scarface (Brian De Palma, 1983), alongside global classics such as Yojimbo (Akira Kurosawa, 1961), La Haine (Mathieu Kassovitz, 1995), and Diva (Jean-Jacques Beineix, 1981). The season will also spotlight overlooked gems like Electra Glide in Blue (James William Guercio, 1973), White of the Eye (Donald Cammell, 1987), and The Girl on a Motorcycle (Jack Cardiff, 1968).

Rounding out the season are iconic works of cult cinema such as Performance (Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg, 1970), Badlands (Terrence Malick, 1973), Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (Paul Schrader, 1985), What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (Robert Aldrich, 1962), and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Sergio Leone, 1966).

The BFI’s Moviedrome season is a celebration of cinematic outsiderdom, curatorial flair, and the enduring legacy of a programme that defined late-night movie-watching for a generation.