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Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode guide us through the expanding universe of the moving image

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode guide us through the expanding universe of the moving image revealing fascinating links and hidden gems from cinema and TV to streaming and beyond.

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Screenshot: Booze and sobriety

Booze and sobriety

BBC Radio 4 - Screenshot, Booze and sobriety

Ellen and Mark explore drink and drunkenness on screen, with help from Richard E Grant.

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore depictions of alcohol in film and television over the years, from the hilarity of Dudley Moore in Arthur, to the tragedy of Nicolas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas.

Mark is joined by Little White Lies magazine's Hannah Strong to celebrate some of the most iconic drinkers in cinema, from Bridesmaids to Jaws. And he speaks to actor Richard E Grant about playing one of the definitive screen drunks in Withnail And I, despite famously not drinking himself. 

And Ellen looks at Hollywood's changing attitudes to booze, starting with the most sober time in history - in theory - Prohibition-era America. She speaks to critic Christina Newland and to writer Simone Finch, whose TV show Single Drunk Female offers a refreshingly modern depiction of sobriety. 

Details of organisations offering information and support with alcohol and addiction are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

Producer: Jane Long
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

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