Ian McNeice

Young orphan Oliver Twist (Barney Clark) is forcibly brought to a workhouse by the beadle Mr. Bumble (Jeremy Swift) in an unidentified town in England on his ninth birthday. At 9, Oliver was considered too old for the orphanage he was living in. The workhouse was a place for the poor and destitute to live and work in exchange for basic necessities. Oliver is put into a room with hundreds of boys who are asked to sift through old roles and pick out the threads that are not yet rotten. These threads are used to create new ropes which are deployed on English battle ships. Oliver and the other resident children are treated poorly and given very little food. Facing starvation, the boys select Oliver (through a short thread lottery) to ask for more food at the next meal, which he tentatively does. This results in Oliver being chastised, and the workhouse officials, who are wealthy, well-fed, hypocritical men, decide to get rid of him. The board of the workhouse put out an advertisement giving 5 pounds as an incentive to take Oliver away as an apprentice. A chimney sweeper responds to the Advertisement, and the board approves of transferring legal guardianship of Oliver to the chimney sweeper. When the matter goes to court, Oliver is in tears and the judge takes pity on him and refuses the transfer request. The judge instructs the workhouse to treat Oliver kindly. After nearly being sold as an apprentice to a cruel chimney sweep, Oliver is sent to Mr. Sowerberry (Michael Heath), a coffin-maker, whose wife (Gillian Hanna) and senior apprentice take an instant dislike to the newcomer. Oliver is meted out even more poor treatment, where Oliver is given cold food that was meant for the dog and given a place to sleep under Mr Sowerberry's desk. The older apprentice Noah is not happy to see Oliver who represents competition. Mr Sowerberry is kind to Oliver and starts to use him as pall bearer at children's funerals. Driven to despair by the atrocities, Oliver snaps and attacks Noah (Chris Overton), the snotty older apprentice, for having insulted his mother. Knowing his life with the Sowerberry's will only get worse, Oliver escapes on foot. With little food, Oliver determines to walk 70 miles to London. After he collapses from exhaustion, a kindly old woman gives him food and lodgings for the night. After a week of travel, he arrives at the city, barefoot and penniless. He meets Jack Dawkins (Harry Eden), or "The Artful Dodger," a boy-thief who takes Oliver to his home and hideout at Saffron Hill that he shares with many other young pickpockets and their eccentric elderly leader, Fagin (Ben Kingsley). Soon, Oliver is being groomed to join their gang. On his first outing with the pickpockets, two of the boys steal a man's handkerchief and Oliver is framed. However, he is proven innocent by an eyewitness, and the owner of the handkerchief (the wealthy Mr. Brownlow (Edward Hardwicke)) takes pity on Oliver, who had collapsed from a fever in the courtroom. Brownlow informally adopts Oliver, giving him new clothes and the promise of a good education. However, while out running an errand for Brownlow, Oliver is forcibly returned to the pickpocket gang by Fagin's associate, the evil Bill Sikes (Jamie Foreman), and the young prostitute Nancy (Leanne Rowe) who is in a complex and abusive relationship with Sikes. Fagin and Sikes are worried that Oliver would "peach," and tell the authorities about their criminal activity. Oliver is put under supervision until Bill Sikes discovers the boy's connection to the rich Mr. Brownlow. Sikes and his accomplice, Toby Crackit (Mark Strong), force Oliver to aid them in robbing Brownlow's house. They are discovered and Oliver is wounded in a brief shootout between Brownlow and Sikes. As the three escape, Bill decides to murder Oliver to ensure his silence, but falls into a nearby river before he can take action. Sikes survives his near drowning but is confined to bed with a heavy fever. Fagin, despite treating Oliver kindly, remains crime-focused and plots with Sikes to kill Oliver when Sikes has recovered. Nancy has a maternal love for Oliver and does not want to see him hurt, but she is controlled by the abusive Sikes. She drugs Bill and goes to Brownlow's house where she arranges to have him meet her on London Bridge at midnight so she can provide information about Oliver. At the meeting, Nancy cautiously reveals that Oliver is staying with Fagin, and that the authorities will easily find them. Brownlow leaves to call the police. The Artful Dodger, who had been sent by a suspicious Fagin to spy on Nancy, had heard everything and is bullied by Bill Sikes to give up the information. Sikes is furious at Nancy's betrayal and brutally beats her to death in their apartment. The next day, information about Oliver and Fagin appears in the newspaper, along with Nancy's murder and Sikes is a suspect. Sikes's ever-present dog, Bullseye, is a dead giveaway to his identity. After unsuccessfully trying to kill the dog, Sikes takes up residence with Toby Crackit. Fagin, Oliver, and the boys are hiding there too, after escaping their previous location before the police could find it. Bullseye escapes his master's cruelty and leads a group of police and locals to the group's hideout. Eventually, Dodger, outraged at Sikes for killing the good-heart person Nancy, reveals their location to authorities. Bill Sikes takes Oliver onto the roof, knowing they won't shoot if the boy is with him. When trying to scale the building using a rope, Sikes, distracted by his dog, loses his footing and accidentally hangs himself. Sometime later, Oliver is living comfortably with Mr. Brownlow again. Fagin was arrested (though the fate of the pickpockets is unknown), and Oliver wishes to visit him in jail. Brownlow takes him to the prison, where they find Fagin ranting and wailing in his cell. Oliver is distraught at Fagin's fate, as he had been something of a father figure to Oliver. As Mr. Brownlow escorts a tearful Oliver to a carriage, gallows are being set up in the courtyard. Townspeople begin to gather to watch Fagin's execution.

It is 1872, and a British inventor, a Chinese thief, and a French artist set off to circumnavigate the globe in 80 days. They travel by land, air, sea, and inline skates in order to beat the clock and finish where they started.

A prince awakens a princess with a kiss, though she rejects his romantic advances (as she argues that she hasn't even been engaged yet and has missed the entire courtship period) and runs away. The princess says that she has ambition and drive. An American beautician named Joy Miller (Fran Drescher) does odd jobs in the TV industry, performing hair and makeup duties on the Lotto girl before she goes on air for her brief appearance. Joy lives with her parents Jerry (Michael Lerner) and Judy (Phyllis Newman). Judy asks Joy to settle in life and not keeping waiting endlessly for her to fulfill her ambition. Joy is adamant that she will not marry until she meets the right guy. Joy teaches students at a night beauty school (to supplement her income) to groom hair but is put out of business when one of her students accidentally ignites hair spray with his cigarette, eventually leading to the school burning down. Joy ends up being highlighted in a newspaper New York Post article after she helps her students, and the caged animals escape the building successfully. Joy had made several trips inside a burning building, but made sure that she rescues all the animals, including a python that she takes in her handbag. The article is seen by Ira Grushinsky (Ian McNeice), a diplomatic representative of a small Eastern European country called Slovetzia (bordered by Hungary, Romania, and Ukraine), a country she never heard of. Ira has been sent to the United States to find a tutor for the Four children of Slovetzia's President, and, mistakenly thinking that Joy is an academic teacher, offers the job to her. However, she misinterprets his job offer as teaching hair-styling. Although she has never heard of the country, she accepts the job despite her initial hesitation. Ira says that the job pays $40,000 per year. It is only after they arrive in Slovetzia that Ira realizes his error. Ira thought that Joy was a science teacher, and she says that she didn't even pass science in school. By then it is too late, and Joy agrees to keep up the ruse of being a "real" teacher for the time being. The initial meeting of Joy with the President, a dictator named Boris Pochenko (Timothy Dalton), gets off on the wrong foot. Boris prepares a full military guard to welcome Joy, but she ends up being late for the appointment as she was still busy putting on make-up. Boris warns Joy not to take her job lightly. He wants her to prepare his kids to face the western world and wants Joy to be prompt and efficient. Joy gets along well with his four children Katrina (Lisa Jakub), Karl (Adam LaVorgna), Yuri (Kyle and Tyler Wilkerson) and Masha (Heather DeLoach). Karl is very uptight, like his father, and wants Joy to teach him about the decadent American ways. Katrina is warm and inviting and is open to new ideas and thoughts. Joy teaches them of life outside Slovetzia (like the concept of Democracy, frequent flier miles, risk of cancer due to sun exposure) and helps them gain confidence in themselves. Joy encourages Karl to pursue his dream of becoming an artist, who feels pressured to be more like his father. Katrina tells Joy that all she wants to have is sex (her concept of sex is holding hands and eating ice cream), and wants to date a boy. Katrina says that her marriage is already confirmed to a prince, as per Boris' wishes. Joy encourages Katrina to speak to Boris directly, but he is enraged instead. Boris is adamant that Katrina will have an arranged marriage, as is the custom of their society. Joy frequently clashes with Pochenko, who is disturbed by her fierce independence and the fact that he cannot frighten her. Joy tells Boris that he is only ruling his children by fear and that he needs to earn their respect. Joy's presence in Slovetzia is due to Pochenko's desire to change his reputation among other Western nations as a "beast". His second-in-command, Leonid Kleist (Patrick Malahide) is against Pochenko's "softening" strategy and wants to crush the growing rebellion among Slovetzia's youth. Joy eventually learns that Katrina is in love with Alek (Timothy Dowling), one of the leaders of the youth rebellion. Joy finds Katrina outside the castle, and she takes Joy to a hidden nightclub, where she meets Alex. Unfortunately, Katrina is followed by the castle guards and Alek is captured by Pochenko. Joy secretly helps Katrina sneak to his cell to see him. A summit of visiting emissaries is arriving in Slovetzia to meet with Pochenko, and Joy convinces him that the best way to prove that he is a modern-thinking man would be to throw a party for visiting emissaries during a summit meeting to debut his new image. She encourages him to form closer relationships with his citizens and shaves his mustache. During a trip to a factory, Joy realizes that Slovetzia lacks trade unions and encourages the workers to hold a strike. Joy is put in charge of preparations, and during this time she and Pochenko grow closer. As part of the summit, Boris considers releasing Alek despite Leonid's disapproval. On the evening of the dinner, Joy confesses that she is not an academic teacher, but by this time Pochenko does not care about her credentials, only that she has brought happiness to him and his family. Later, Leonid confronts Joy with the fact that she has been helping Katrina meet Alek. When this information is brought to Pochenko, he argues with Joy on her meddling. Following Boris' decision to keep Alek in jail, Joy informs him that she had set up meetings between Alek and Katrina; he argues with Joy over her meddling in Slovetzia's political affairs. Joy decides to leave Slovetzia for good. Some months pass. Leonid has quietly taken over administrative duties and signing sentences in Pochenko's name. Pochenko, made aware of this fact by Ira, confronts Leonid and strips him of his duties. Pochenko realizes that he has spent many months depressed and discontent after Joy's leaving and decides that it is time to change his ways. Joy is back at home with her parents. She has also been depressed after leaving Slovetzia, but then receives a surprise visit by Pochenko. Boris informs her that he has freed Alek and agreed to hold free elections in Slovetzia. Boris kisses Joy after admitting his feelings for her.

When an English cartographer must tell a Welsh village that their mountain is only a hill, the offended community sets out to change that. Two English cartographers visit the small South Wales village of Ffynnon Garw, to measure what is claimed to be the "first mountain inside of Wales". It's 1917, and the war in Europe continues. The villagers are very proud of their "mountain", and are understandably disappointed and furious to find that it is in fact a "hill". Not to be outwitted by a rule (and the Englishmen who enforce it), the villagers set out to make their hill into a mountain, but to do so they must keep the English from leaving, before the job is done. —Rob Hartill

Based on the true story of a transatlantic business correspondence about used books, which later developed into a close, long-distance friendship that evolved over the course of two decades. When a humorous script-reader in her New York City apartment sees an ad in the Saturday Review of Literature for a bookstore in London that does mail order, she begins a very special correspondence and friendship with Frank P. Doel (Sir Anthony Hopkins), the bookseller who works at Marks & Co., 84 Charing Cross Road. —Kathy Li 1949 marks the beginning of the nineteen year (1949 to 1968) unconventional and long distance love affair between Helene Hanff (Anne Bancroft) and Frank P. Doel (Sir Anthony Hopkins). Straightforward Helene is an aspiring New York City-based writer who works as a script editor. She is a voracious reader, especially of non-fiction. Frank is the efficient and knowledgeable head clerk at Marks & Co., a second-hand bookstore located at 84 Charing Cross Road in London. Unable to find the out-of-print books she wants at New York City bookstores without having to pay an arm and a leg, she writes to Marks & Co. hoping they can fill her order for a reasonable price. Frank and the bookstore staff are able to provide Helene most of what she wants at an acceptable price, including shipping. As such, she provides them with standing orders for more and more books. But as time goes on, their correspondence not only deals with Helene's orders, but what is happening in their lives and in the world around them, including Frank's loving marriage to his wife, Nora (Dame Judi Dench), and their two children. Helene dreams one day of being able to travel to London to meet Frank and the other Marks & Co. staff; the people who have been able to fulfill a great need in her life. —Huggo