Alan Bennett (I)

Alan Bennett at 90: "What will people think? I don't care any more"

In his 10th decade, the writer is as prolific as ever with a war film in the works and a new sex-fuelled novella set in a home for the elderly. He talks about mourning Maggie Smith, turning down a knighthood and what he makes of Donald Trump.

The History Boys review

I so much want to like this. It is national treasure Alan Bennett, it's witty, clever, thought-provoking, sad and fun but the episodic nature, wordiness and nonchalant sexual abuse left me cold and confused.

Allelujah, review

A moving love letter to the NHS set in a world of death and incontinence.

Made me laugh for all the wrong reasons: Allelujah reviewed

If you're going to do Alan Bennett, don't meddle with Alan Bennett.

Allelujah review

A cheery adaptation of Alan Bennett's play that flatlines after a jarring final act twist.

Allelujah review

Starry NHS hospital drama is less than scalpel-sharp.

Allelujah, Alan Bennett's 2018 play about the ailing fortunes of a geriatric hospital, gets a tonally bizarre big screen adaptation courtesy of Call The Midwife creator Heidi Thomas and director Richard Eyre. A slew of beloved British stage and screen stars - among them Judi Dench and Derek Jacobi - play the hospital's ailing patients, while Jennifer Saunders (as a ward nurse), Russell Tovey (as a government management consultant) and Bally Gill (as an immigrant doctor) attend to the plot, which revolves around the cash-strapped hospital's viability. Tovey gets a couple of good scenes, but a last-minute swerve into The Good Nurse territory doesn't come off at all.

Allelujah review

Overall, Allelujah is an intriguing production. It has a lot of things it wants to say, but its commitment to a shock-value plot twist blunts its ability to say those things and causes it to largely squander its runtime, making for an experience that feels inconsistent and compromised, despite its best efforts

I saw Miller in Beyond the Fringe - I'm still dazzled

The Guardian's theatre critic was at the sketch group's first show in 1960. It was the beginning of a friendship ... and a satire boom that changed the world.

Maggie Smith is a marvel as Miss Shepherd, the eccentric elderly woman who parked her campervan in Alan Bennett's drive for a few weeks, and stayed for 15 years. Alex Jennings is a joy as Bennett, but this is Smith's film: her comically cantankerous exterior masking an inner sadness. There's fun, too, in the neighbours' perplexed reactions to her mucky presence. This small but big-hearted comic drama is a great alternative to the talking animations and blockbusters that fill the festive TV schedule.