Das Jüngste Gericht (The Last Judgement), Steven Berkoff in a double episode Austrian tv thriller.  The films borrows a lot from from Silence of the Lambs.   The film stars Tobias Moretti- who's next film would be the promisingly titled 1½ Knights - In Search of the Ravishing Princess Herzelinde, Christoph Waltz and Silke Bodenbender.  Berkoff plays Conrad, but he is dubbed into German, so what is the point of using Berkoff?  Did they intend to dub the other actors into English and try and sell it abroard?  Directed by Urs Egger in 2008.

All images from the film.

The 10th Man, not Graham Greene's late novel about France under the occupation but a short ten minute Jewish comedy in the East End of London.  A pleasant light comedy.

"The 10th Man. The short, currently enjoying a revival on YouTube, is about elderly East End Jews and an 11th-hour search for a Kol Nidre minyan, and stars Andrew Sachs and Stephen Berkoff " (The Jewish Chronicle, 4 Nov 2010. click here).  Note Steven's name is misspelled.  Kol Nidre is recited on Yom Kippur, the day of atonement.  Minyan is the minimum number of males (10) required to constitute a representative “community of Israel” for liturgical purposes (Encyclopedia Brittannica).

There have to be 10 in the congregation but there are only nine present.  The members search for a tenth man, even trying communist Red Jack Weinbaum (Steven Berkoff) who is not intersted.

They almost give up when they have a delivery and they discover the youth is Jewish.  They have their minyan.

Filming was in Sandys Row Synagogue in Spitalfields in London. "By the 1970s the synagogue was in decline. Most of the Jewish population had moved out of the East End and membership dwindled. By the 1990s the synagogue nearly closed down, it struggled to achieve a minyan..." (Rochelle Cole from the synagogue website click here).  Happily the website states "membership is slowly increasing with a new Jewish generation moving back into the East End" and "On ‘fast’ days there can be well in excess of one hundred congregants".

"Kidnapping and dirty tricks are the way of the street among the ageing Jewish community of London's East End" (Rise Films, click here).

Directed by newcomer Sam Leifer in 2006.  Cinematography is by Nina Kellgren and Film Editing by Victoria Boydell.

All images from the film.

New Tricks 2006

A police informant comes back to town after 18 years, and an old case is reopened.  Berkoff is the guest star playing Ray Cook, a best selling author (his book is titled Hardest Geezer in Town) who talks in cockney rhyming slang.  Is he the actual criminal?  Berkoff does his standard working-class-henchman-made-good-through-crime role.  Series 3 episode 6.

Hotel Babylon, the BBC series from 2006 about the staff and clients in a five star hotel.  Predictable but fun.  Series 1 episode 8.

"Hotel Babylon is a highbrow soap about the underbelly of luxury. It is shiny and fast and neither stands up to, nor expects, close scrutiny. In short, it conforms to the 'grammar' of postmodern, high-concept TV… it is densely plotted with slick opening titles, jump-cut editing and features pretty people doing louche things... I could add that Hotel Babylon tackles 'issues' including depression, addiction and borderline Asperger's (a wonderful performance from The League of Gentlemen's Steve Pemberton as a businessman). In the best tradition of trash TV, Hotel Babylon 'rescues' Thursday nights" (Liz Hoggard, 29 Jan 200, The Observer, click here).

Steven Berkoff plays a gangster ready to testify against fellow gangsters so until the trial he is kept in the hotel under protective custody by the police with the alias Mr. Wiltshire.

 A hit-man comes after Wiltshire.

The director is Keith Boak, the writer is Tony Basgallop, the Director of Photography is Sean van Hales and the Editor is Mike Jones.

All images from the film.

Alive: Back to the Andes, a Channel 5 documentary with Berkoff the voice narrator from 2006.  The three part documentary recreates the journey of survivors after the Andes plane crash.

By The Pricking of My Thumbs, part of an Agatha Christie Miss Maples series. The title comes from Shakespeare's Macbeth, by the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes, and there are a number of Macbeth references in the film.

"An old woman in a nursing home speaks of a child buried behind the fireplace… When Tommy and Tuppence visited an elderly aunt in her gothic nursing home, they thought nothing of her mistrust of the doctors; after all, Ada was a very difficult old lady. But when Mrs Lockett mentioned a poisoned mushroom stew and Mrs Lancaster talked about ‘something behind the fireplace’, Tommy and Tuppence found themselves caught up in an unexpected adventure" (Agatha Christie official website, click here).

Marples teams up with Agatha Christie regulars husband and wife team .

Geraldine McEwan plays Miss Marple.

And in Agatha Christie style there is a murder to investigate. and a host of characters some genial and some nasty- not difficult to work out which category the surprise murderer comes from.

And the only clue seems to be a house in a pantimg.

Steven Berkoff plays Freddie Eccles, a solicitor, who of course is one of the suspects.

The script is by Stewart Harcourt and the director is Peter Medak.  Berkoff worked with Medak on The Krays previously.  Geraldine McEwan plays Miss Marple and the cast also includes Claire Bloom and Charles Dance.

All images from the film.

It's a Boy from 2005.  A cartoon film made by a Christian charity to tell the story of Jesus to schoolchildren.  It was sent free to 26,000 schools in the UK.  The director is Julian Tewkesbury and screenplay is by Alexa Tewkesbury.  The film is 30 minutes long and cost £200,000.  The bible story is told by three birds (quails).

"When three quails overhear an angel telling Mary she is going to give birth to the Son of God, they are surprised and bewildered. Soon afterwards, they are captured by King Herod’s bird-catcher and thrown into a cage in the palace for fattening up. As three strangers arrive looking for a new king, the quails realise it is Mary’s baby they are talking about. To their horror, the birds then learn that Herod wants Him dead. The race is on to find Mary and the baby before Herod can carry out his dreadful plan. But first, the quails have to escape from the evil King... The quarrelsome threesome – who are usually only bothered about finding a decent breakfast – find that life is never the same again as they embark on their daring mission".

Mary feeds the three quails every day.

Then the angel Gabriel comes to Mary and tells her she is with a child, the son of God.

The three wise men looking for the child.

However King Herod, with Steven Berkoff providing the voice, plots to kill the child.  Can the quails thwart his plan?.

Inevitably the title song is performed by Cliff Richard.  The advert says "Some quails only dream... others dare to believe".

The original DVD cover misspells Berkoff's name, it is corrected on the re-release.

All images from the film.

Happy the Man 2003

Berkoff provides the voice-over.  Any other information is welcome.

A series Seven Wonders of the Industrial World with Steven Berkoff appearing in the episode about the Brooklyn Bridge from 2003.  The series combines original film and photgraphs with dramatic episodes.

"The building of [the bridge] came to represent a landmark in technological achievement for a generation. Its strength and grace inspired poets, notably Walt Whitman, Hart Crane, and Marianne Moore, and a legion of photographers and painters, including Joseph Stella, John Marin, Berenice Abbott, and Alfred Eisenstaedt" (Encyclopedia Britannica).

Berkoff plays John A. Roeblinh, the architect and man behind the bridge to connect Manhatten and Brooklyn. 

But just as building was about to start, he dies and his son Washington (George Anton) continued the work.

 When he in turn becomes injured his wife Emily (Debora Weston) ensures the work continues.

Berkoff used the knowledge he gained from acting in the documentary to update his play Sit and Shiver, having one character talking of the building of the bridge, to appeal more to Amercian audiences (Steven Berkoff to Iain Fisher at UK production of Sit and Shiver).

The other episodes in the series cover the SS Great Eastern, the Transcontinental Railway, the London Sewers, the Bell Rock Lighthouse, the Panama Canal and the Hoover Dam.

Children of Dune 2003

Berkoff plays Stilgar in the six hour television mini-series based on Frank Herbert's Dune novels.  Filming was in Prague.  Directed by Greg Yaitanes.

Broken Morning 2003

A South Bank Show dramatised documentary with Ciarán Hinds as Albert Camus.  Catherine McCormack,  Freddie Jones and Struan Rodger appear alongside Berkoff playing the mayor.  Directed by Jack Bond.