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David Bradley

David Bradley

Birth : 1953-09-27, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England, UK

History

Born to a miner father and a seamstress mother in Barnsley, South Yorkshire in 1953, David Bradley is best known for playing Billy Casper in Ken Loach's 1969 film, Kes. Prior to this starring role, Bradley had only ever acted in school pantomimes and secured the lead in an open audition against thousands of children. Following the success of Kes, Bradley had to change his name to Dai Bradley on account of the actor David Bradley already having an Equity card in that name. Bradley turned to television appearing as the lead in two children's series The Flaxton Boys and The Jensen Code and guest roles in Z Cars, Nearest and Dearest and A Family at War. He appeared in several other movies as a young man in the tail end of the 70s including All Quiet on the Western Front, Zulu Dawn and Absolution but by the following decade Bradley decided to retire from acting and tried his hand as a writer instead. In recent years he has returned to the profession as David Bradley once more and has had roles in the film Hummingbird and the children's TV series The Dumping Ground.

Profile

David Bradley

David Bradley

Movies

Greg Davies: Looking for Kes

Greg Davies: Looking for Kes

Self

Comedian, actor and ex-English teacher Greg Davies is a lifelong fan of Barry Hines's classic novel A Kestrel for a Knave, the story of Billy Casper training a kestrel as an escape from his troubled home and school life. In this documentary, Greg goes in search of the book's enduring appeal, travelling to Barnsley, where the book was set and where Ken Loach's famous adaptation, Kes, was filmed.

Porter

Entirely shot on green screen, Shakespeare’s Macbeth has been reinvented by director Kit Monkman (The Knife That Killed Me) in an exciting new film adaptation. Starring Mark Rowley, (The Last Kingdom, Luther). Monkman’s unique adaptation successfully bridges the gap between theatre and film to create a wholly new type of imaginative space. This radical new adaptation puts the audience’s engagement with the story centre-stage, amplifying the theatrical context of the original and creating truly innovative and thrilling cinematic vistas, whilst maintaining the language and themes of Shakespeare’s original play. Using background matte painting and computer modelling to generate the world in which the action plays out, the green screen allows Monkman to create his vision of a multi-tiered globe in which the characters play out their various fates.

How to Make a Ken Loach Film

How to Make a Ken Loach Film

Interviewee

This unique interactive film puts you on set with Ken Loach in production on his latest film, I, Daniel Blake. Throwing us into life on location and during pre-production, it enables you to change the course of your viewing experience by selecting inserts in which Loach and some of his key collaborators – past and present – give fascinating insights into his creative practices. (The version released on the Criterion Collection edition is only 38 minutes and doesn't include the interactive parts with interviews and illustrative scenes from previous Loach films.)

Versus: The Life and Films of Ken Loach

Versus: The Life and Films of Ken Loach

Himself

A surprisingly candid behind-the-scenes account of the career of Ken Loach, one of Britain’s most celebrated and controversial filmmakers, as he prepares to release his final major film I, Daniel Blake.

Billy

Homeless and on the run from a military court martial, a damaged ex-special forces soldier navigating London's criminal underworld seizes an opportunity to assume another man's identity, transforming into an avenging angel in the process.

Father Michael

Fleeing persecution and torture in northern Iraq, three young Kurds, Mahmoud, Rezghar and Saman, smuggle themselves into Britain aboard a freight train. Arriving in London they register for asylum but soon experience the first blast of bureaucracy, as their papers are lost in the system. When Saman is detained in prison and the police attempt to arrest Rezghar, he flees and hides in a church where Father Michael is leading a service.

Those Glory Glory Days

Those Glory Glory Days

1961 Spurs Team Member

Girls growing up in 1960-61 London develop a passion for Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, the first British team in the 20th century to win the English league and FA Cup "double". Twenty years later, one of the girls tracks down players of the '60-'61 Spurs for a documentary.

The World Cup: A Captain's Tale

The World Cup: A Captain's Tale

Ticer Thomas

The true story of the First world football competition, won by a team comprised of miners from Durham.

Pte Williams

In 1879, the British suffer a great loss at the Battle of Isandlwana due to incompetent leadership.

Arthur Dyson

At a Catholic boys' school, domineering disciplinarian Father Goddard rules over his pupils with an iron hand. When one of his teenage charges confesses to murder, the dogmatic but deeply repressed Goddard finds his faith challenged and his life spiralling dangerously out of control.

Barty

A tough young girl lives with her aging grandfather near a cove on the coast of Cornwall. She supports herself and him by gathering seaweed to sell as fertilizer. A cocky young neighboring boy decides to help her with the work.

Billy

A young, English working-class boy finds a kestrel and decides to train it.