
Brian Percival
Directing
Biography
Brian Percival is a British film director, known for his work on the British television series Downton Abbey and North & South, as well as the feature film The Book Thief.
Known For

A chronicle of the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants in the post-Edwardian era—with great events in history having an effect on their lives and on the British social hierarchy.
Downton Abbey

The heartwarming and humorous adventures of a young country vet in the Yorkshire Dales in the 1930s. A remake of the 1978 series.
All Creatures Great & Small

When a gruesomely staged body is found at the German-Austrian border, two detectives investigate. As the ritual-like murders continue, they enter the killer’s sinister world, set in the Alpine wilderness.
Pagan Peak

The beloved Crawleys and their intrepid staff prepare for the most important moment of their lives. A royal visit from the King and Queen of England will unleash scandal, romance and intrigue that will leave the future of Downton hanging in the balance.
Downton Abbey

Four of Shakespeare's plays are dramatically relocated to the modern day.
ShakespeaRe-Told

Margaret Hale is a southerner from a country vicarage newly settled in the industrial northern town of Milton. In the shock of her move, she misjudges charismatic cotton mill-owner John Thornton, whose strength of purpose and passion are a match for her own pride and willfulness. When the workers of Milton call a strike, Margaret takes their side, and the two are brought into deeper conflict. As events spiral out of control, Margaret - to her surprise - begins to fall in love with Thornton...
North & South

While subjected to the horrors of WWII Germany, young Liesel finds solace by stealing books and sharing them with others. Under the stairs in her home, a Jewish refugee is being sheltered by her adoptive parents.
The Book Thief

The story of Victorian serial killer Mary Ann Cotton, a poisoner whose methods leave no visible scars, allowing her tally of victims to mount, unsuspected by a Victorian society unable to conceive of a woman capable of such terrible crimes. Traveling around the North East, she insinuates herself into unsuspecting families, marrying and creating new families of her own - before killing them, taking their money and moving on.
Dark Angel

A kindly shop owner whose overwhelming gambling debts allow a greedy landlord to seize his shop of dusty treasures. Evicted and with no way to pay his debts, he and his granddaughter flee.
The Old Curiosity Shop

Sally Lockhart has struck a man dead with just three words, sent to her in a message from her father just before he drowned in the South China Seas. But unfortunately, Sally has no idea what the words The Seven Blessings mean. Before long, she is drawn into a mystery filled with opium, secrets from her own past and, at the heart of it all, the Ruby of Agrapur.
The Ruby in the Smoke

In 1939 Gracie Fields, the 'Queen of Hearts', is at the height of her success as a singer and actress and the whole nation seems to wish her a speedy recovery from cervical cancer. When World War Two breaks out, Gracie sings for the troops despite poor health, to the dismay of her fussy husband, film director Monty Banks, an Italian, born Mario Bianchi. With Italy's entry into the war Monty is in danger of being interned so Gracie consents to his moving to America whilst she tours Canada, fund-raising for the war effort. She is accused of deserting the country which made her famous and booed offstage, though she later tours battlefields as a singer. With the war over she regains popularity, performing 'Take Me To Your Heart Again' at the London Palladium. Banks dies in 1950 and, though still a successful singer, Gracie never regains her pre-war iconic status.
Gracie!

A Song For Jenny is the true story of Julie Nicholson's response to her daughter Jenny’s murder in the July 7th bombing at Edgware Road tube station. Starring Emily Watson as Julie, A Song For Jenny details the dramatic and profound impact of violence on one woman and a family.
A Song for Jenny

The story of Joanna, a 14-year-old girl who feels pressured by her peers to lose her virginity. The story, told primarily from her point of view, follows her as she self-destructs, becoming involved in a world of sex, drugs and betrayal. Including graphic and sometimes violent underage sex scenes, the film portrays an occassionally exaggerated but nonetheless disturbing and thought-provoking view of teenage sexuality.
Pleasureland

Tensions mount in the TV studio when a take-charge anchor is reunited with a man she has a "history" with.
Much Ado About Nothing

This critically acclaimed DVD contains 16 of the best classic and award winning British short films and delivers a snapshot of British cinema past and present. It includes films from Britain's most exciting new talent alongside early shorts from it's most successful filmmakers' amongst them Chris Nolan (Memento, Insomnia, Batman Begins), Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Alien), Mike Leigh (Secrets and Lies) and Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot, The Hours). 01 About a Girl - Brian Percival 02 Boy & Bicycle - Ridley Scott 03 Dear Phone - Peter Greenaway 04 Doodlebug - Christopher Nolan 05 Eight - Stephen Daldry 06 Gasman - Lynne Ramsay 07 Girl Chewing Gum - John Smith 08 Home - Morag McKinnon 09 Joyride - Jim Gillespie 10 Inside Out - Tom & Charles Guard 11 Je Taime John Wayne - Toby Macdonald 12 The Sheep Thief - Asif Kapadia 13 The Short & Curlies - Mike Leigh 14 Telling Lies - Simon Ellis 15 UK Images - Martin Parr 16 Whos My Favourite Girl? - Adrian J. McDowall
Cinema16: British Short Films

When he becomes a father at the tender age of 14, Robbie's life quickly spirals out of control. Feeling angry and neglected by his own dad, he kick-starts a series of events that will catapult him at great speed into adulthood.
A Boy Called Dad

A girl tells the story of her life and hopes for the future.