Complete credited cast: | |||
Lindsay Duncan | ... | Marilyn Truman | |
Timothy Spall | ... | Oswald Bates | |
Liam Cunningham | ... | Christopher Anderson | |
Billie Whitelaw | ... | Veronica | |
Emilia Fox | ... | Spig | |
Arj Barker | ... | Garnett | |
Blake Ritson | ... | Nick | |
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Sheila Dunne | ... | Molly (as Sheila Dunn) |
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Jean Channon | ... | Dinner Lady |
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Jennifer House | ... | Dinner Lady |
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Geoffrey Beevers | ... | Doctor (as Geoffery Beevers) |
Lesley McGuire | ... | Nurse (as Leslie McGuire) | |
Andy Serkis | ... | Styeman |
A US property developer realises that he has a battle on his hands when he tries to renovate a London building containing a vast photographic collection and discovers that the library employees will resort to anything to thwart him. Written by Mark Smith <msmith@osi.co.uk>
The atmosphere created in Shooting the Past is so compelling that it draws the viewer into its improbable world, and we accept that it could happen. The music is hypnotic, the photographs are fascinating, but most of all, the performances are wonderful. Lindsay Duncan is passionate and controlled at the same time - her dedication to her job is absolute. The sexual tension between her character and Liam Cunningham's is another factor that made it impossible to stop watching. All the English characters seem eccentric in some way, as you might expect from people who work in a photo library, but they are all 3-dimensional and I felt that I knew them by the end. As usual, Poliakoff has created a fantasy world which seems like the real world, but unexpected things happen and it's difficult to predict what the outcome will be. It gives us hope that we can do unexpected things ourselves. It is a drama of astonishing depth and must be seen - preferably several times.