Heist | |
---|---|
Written by | Peter Harness |
Directed by | Justin Hardy |
Starring | Kris Marshall |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of episodes | 1 |
Production | |
Producer | Susan Horth |
Cinematography | Douglas Hartington |
Editor | Michael Harrowes |
Running time | 70 mins |
Original release | |
Network | BBC Four |
Release | 23 April 2008 |
Heist is a one-off 2008 television comedy-drama, written by Peter Harness and directed by Justin Hardy. It was completed at the end of 2006 and first broadcast on 23 April 2008 on BBC Four as part of its Medieval season. Loosely based on real events surrounding Richard of Pudlicott, it is a parody of and/or homage to heist films, set in medieval England, using several of that genre's conventions (such as the raid being "one last job", and the use of an unintelligent but physically strong figure), and trailed under the same tagline as the 2003 remake of The Italian Job ("Get in, get out, get even"). As per the medieval setting, the film dialogue contains several Middle English and pseudo-Middle English expressions and insults (some of which are translations of modern-English insults or rhyming slang - "mother-swyver" instead of "motherfucker", or "it's all gone a bit church gong" instead of "it's all gone a bit Pete Tong", for example). Marshall as lead character narrates several parts of the backstory to the audience during the film.
In 1303, the innkeeper and would-be wool-merchant Dick Puddlecote is arrested and imprisoned in Flanders after traveling there from England to trade wool. Before he could receive the money, he was imprisoned, as punishment for the English monarch Edward I having defaulted on a loan from Flanders.
On his release, Dick returns to England, where he finds Edward has taken over his inn and forced his girlfriend Joanna the Concubine into prostitution. Dick vows revenge on the King for all this and begins to gather his friends to attempt an audacious robbery on the king's treasury beneath Westminster Abbey.
The year 1300 (MCCC) was a leap year starting on Friday in the Julian calendar, the 1300th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 300th year of the 2nd millennium, the 100th and last year of the 13th century, and the 1st year of the 1300s. The year 1300 was not a leap year in the Proleptic Gregorian calendar.
Terence Graham Parry Jones was a Welsh actor, comedian, director, popular historian, writer and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe.
John III was Duke of Brabant, Lothier (1312–1355) and Limburg.
Dame Joanna Lamond Lumley is a British actress, presenter, former model, author, television producer, and activist. She has won two BAFTA TV Awards for her role as Patsy Stone in the BBC sitcom Absolutely Fabulous (1992–2012), and was nominated for the 2011 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for the Broadway revival of La Bête. In 2013, she received the Special Recognition Award at the National Television Awards, and in 2017 she was honoured with the BAFTA Fellowship award.
The Battle of Sluys, also called the Battle of l'Écluse, was a naval battle fought on 24 June 1340 between England and France. It took place in the roadstead of the port of Sluys, on a since silted-up inlet between Zeeland and West Flanders. The English fleet of 120–150 ships was led by Edward III of England and the 230-strong French fleet by the Breton knight Hugues Quiéret, Admiral of France, and Nicolas Béhuchet, Constable of France. The battle was one of the opening engagements of the Hundred Years' War.
Floris V reigned as Count of Holland and Zeeland from 1256 until 1296. His life was documented in detail in the Rijmkroniek by Melis Stoke, his chronicler. He is credited with a mostly peaceful reign, modernizing administration, policies beneficial to trade, generally acting in the interests of his peasants at the expense of nobility, and reclaiming land from the sea. His dramatic murder, said by some to have been arranged by King Edward I of England and Guy, Count of Flanders, made him a hero in Holland.
The Black Arrow: A Tale of the Two Roses is an 1888 children's novel by Robert Louis Stevenson. It is both a historical adventure novel and a romance novel. It first appeared as a serial in 1883 with the subtitle "A Tale of Tunstall Forest" beginning in Young Folks; A Boys' and Girls' Paper of Instructive and Entertaining Literature, vol. XXII, no. 656 and ending in vol. XXIII, no. 672 —Stevenson had finished writing it by the end of summer. It was printed under the pseudonym Captain George North. He alludes to the time gap between the serialisation and the publication as one volume in 1888 in his preface "Critic [parodying Dickens's 'Cricket'] on the Hearth": "The tale was written years ago for a particular audience..." The Paston Letters were Stevenson's main literary source for The Black Arrow. The Black Arrow consists of 79,926 words.
The War of the Breton Succession was a conflict between the Counts of Blois and the Montforts of Brittany for control of the Sovereign Duchy of Brittany, then a fief of the Kingdom of France. It was fought between 1341 and 12 April 1365. It is also known as the War of the Two Jeannes due to the involvement of two rival duchesses of that name.
Joanna of Flanders was Duchess of Brittany by her marriage to John of Montfort. Much of her life was taken up in defense of the rights of her husband and, later, son to the dukedom, which was challenged by the House of Blois during the War of the Breton Succession. Known for her fiery personality, Joanna led the Montfort's cause after her husband had been captured by King Phillip, and began the fight-back. There, she displayed considerable skill as a military leader. Aside from her astounding skills as a military leader, Joanna functioned as a leader that the people loved.
The first phase of the Hundred Years' War between England and France lasted from 1337 to 1360. It is sometimes referred to as the Edwardian War because it was initiated by King Edward III of England, who claimed the French throne in defiance of King Philip VI of France. The dynastic conflict was caused by disputes over the French feudal sovereignty over Aquitaine and the English claims over the French royal title. The Kingdom of England and its allies dominated this phase of the war, and Edward's sovereignty over Aquitaine was confirmed in the Treaty of Brétigny (1360), although he renounced his claim to the French throne.
Louis II, also known as Louis of Male, a member of the House of Dampierre, was Count of Flanders, Nevers and Rethel from 1346 as well as Count of Artois and Burgundy from 1382 until his death.
Mary of Waltham, Duchess of Brittany, was a daughter of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault and was the wife of John IV, Duke of Brittany, known in England as "John V" and "The Conqueror". Mary was made a Lady of the Garter in 1378.
William of Ypres was a Flemish nobleman and one of the first mercenary captains of the Middle Ages. Following two unsuccessful bids for the County of Flanders, William became King Stephen of England's chief lieutenant during the civil war of 1139–54 known as the Anarchy. He held Kent, though not the title of earl, until the early years of King Henry II's reign, when he returned to Flanders.
Richard of Pudlicott, also known as Richard de Podelicote, was an English wool merchant who, down on his luck, became an infamous burglar of King Edward I's Wardrobe treasury at Westminster Abbey in April of 1303. Richard, along with high-ranked accomplices primarily consisting of the monks of Westminster Abbey, stole a large portion of the king's treasury of gems, antique gold and coins, estimated at over 100,000 pounds, or about equal to a year's tax revenue for the Kingdom of England. When priceless objects began flooding pawn shops, houses of prostitution and even fishing nets in the River Thames, the king and his ministers, away at war in Scotland, were alerted. King Edward began his investigation into the incident in June of 1303, which revealed the possible involvement of over 40 monks. Many dozens of people were rounded up and jailed in a wide and indiscriminate net and eventually brought to one of the biggest trials of the High Middle Ages in England. Ultimately most of the loot was recovered and a dozen or so were hanged, including Richard, but most escaped the executioner. Richard gave a false confession that he was the only one involved, saving the clergy—his inside accomplices—from being condemned. After his hanging, his body was flayed, and legend said his skin was nailed to the door of Westminster Abbey as a warning to other would-be criminals. A 2005 study of the door, dating back to the reign of King Edward I revealed the legend to be false. The fragments of hide found under the door's lone surviving iron strap turned out to be from an animal hide which once covered the door.
Gavin & Stacey is a British sitcom written by James Corden and Ruth Jones about two families: one in Billericay, Essex; one in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan. Mathew Horne and Joanna Page play the eponymous characters Gavin and Stacey, while Corden and Jones star as Smithy and Nessa. Alison Steadman and Larry Lamb star as Gavin's parents Pam and Mick, Melanie Walters plays Stacey's mother Gwen, and Rob Brydon plays Stacey's uncle Bryn.
Edward I of England has been portrayed in popular culture a number of times.
Francis Martin Patrick Boyle is a Scottish comedian and writer. Boyle first gained widespread recognition as a regular panellist on the comedy show Mock the Week from 2005 until 2009. He then created and starred in the Channel 4 sketch show Frankie Boyle's Tramadol Nights (2010) and BBC Two's chat show Frankie Boyle's New World Order (2017–2022). In 2020, he presented a four-part series on BBC Two, Frankie Boyle's Tour of Scotland. He has embarked on a number of tours, releasing several stand-up specials. Boyle has been involved in several public controversies due to his humour.
Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country. It is the sixth most populous city in the country.
The English expedition to Flanders (1297–1298) was an English expedition to Flanders that lasted from August 1297 until March 1298. King Edward I of England in an alliance with Guy, Count of Flanders, as part of the wider 1294–1303 Gascon War, led an English force to Flanders, hoping to form military alliances and support to lead a combined force against King Philip IV of France. The expedition was difficult and expensive for Edward, but enough of his allies went into action to gain a truce from the French. After a peace was reached with King Philip IV of France, Edward left Flanders in March 1298.
The Riccardi of Lucca were a medieval merchant society in Lucca, Tuscany. At their greatest extent, they had branches in Rome, Bordeaux, Paris, Flanders, London, York and Dublin.