Bert And Dickie (Weds, 8.30pm, BBC1)
Taking a break from playing an alien Timelord, Matt Smith portrays a very human character in a stirring biopic of Bert Bushnell and Dickie Burnell, who won rowing gold for Britain in the 1948 London Olympics. It was one of only three golds for GB at the so-called Austerity Games. This film captures the spirit of make-do-and mend as the country tried to get back on its feet after the War, as well as the class ...
more Bert And Dickie (Weds, 8.30pm, BBC1)
Taking a break from playing an alien Timelord, Matt Smith portrays a very human character in a stirring biopic of Bert Bushnell and Dickie Burnell, who won rowing gold for Britain in the 1948 London Olympics. It was one of only three golds for GB at the so-called Austerity Games. This film captures the spirit of make-do-and mend as the country tried to get back on its feet after the War, as well as the class divisions and conflicts that plagued all areas of British life. Bert (Smith) is a dockworker from Southampton, Dickie (Sam Hoare) went to Eton and Oxford, and was the son of an Olympic gold medallist. The tensions, in both personal and class, are powerful, but so is the desire to overcome them. Rousing stuff, with two great main performances. Aside from anything else, Smith looks the dead spit of Bert in his geeky glasses and little hat.
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