maura-walsh Reviews

Monarch (2000)

Whose Who In King Henry VIII's Court?

[26 January 2014]

I'm surprised none of the other reviews here so far have spotted that this film is a bit of a Doctor Who-fest. An average film might have 50 or so in it's cast and if there was an odd actor who appeared in from the 50 year old sci-fi series, it would not be too much of a surprise. What is startling here is we have a cast of about eight leading players and half of them have been in Doctor Who.

Peter Miles played the evil Nyder in Genesis of the Daleks and appeared in the Dinosaur Invasion of Earth, plus a few others. James Coombes was a Cyberman and Jean Marsh (who plays a ghostly Queen here) was in her evil witch persona for the Sylvester McCoy epic Battlefield. Plus she was also an early Who girl and married Jon Pertwee. Lastly the Monarch form this film's title, the great and sadly late, TP McKenna joined the seventh Doctor for The Greatest Show In The Galaxy.

Has this film been given a spit and polish form the vast film archives of the British Cinema vaults to coincide with the 50th Anniversary hoopla? Either way it's a welcome addition. And having seen John Walsh's furiously funny ToryBoy The Movie in cinemas, I am a fan pure and simple. He gets my vote every time :)

Toryboy the Movie (2010)

Politics With a Knock Out Punch

[10/10 · 18 November 2013]

What started as a short film about his campaign turned into a fully fledged 100 minute expose of the local Labour Party which raises serious concerns about the local MP Sir Stuart Bell.

Walsh's rise through the party was meteoric, going from thinking about joining the Conservatives to being selected for the Middlesborough seat within 12 weeks, and he certainly takes the local party by storm – recommending 'flash mobbing' in his first campaign meeting as well as other campaign stunts, such as putting a 'Vote Conservative' poster on Bell's garden gate, and threatening to have Bell "in prison by Christmas" in a hustings.

But there's also a serious side as Walsh has to deal with poor organisation and, fatally, his election address going awry. With little to no support on the ground Walsh resorts to throwing frying pans across his kitchen and threatening to pull out of the campaign – something all us who've stood for election can relate to.

The film concludes with an altercation between Bell and Walsh at the count with a number of expletives going back and forth, mostly from Bell's son Malcolm.

Brilliant this quirky documentary is enjoyable and definitely worth a look.