Cold Comfort Farm (1995)

The smashing Kate Beckinsale stars as Flora Poste, the sophisticated orphan who leaves a cushy berth with her rich London friend (Joanna Lumley) to live with uncouth relatives on a farm that would give D H Lawrence a shock in terms of rustic sin and animal urges.

The father (Ian McKellan) preaches hellfire, while the son Seth (Rufus Sewell) screws what’s handy and dreams of being a film star.

The mother (a superb performance from Eileen Atkins) relinquishes control of the dirty brood only to the matriarch Ada Doom (Sheila Burrell), who talks incessantly about seeing “something nasty in the woodshed”.

The fun comes in watching Flora do a Martha Stewart makeover on the farm and its resident freaks, giving director John Schlesinger a chance to tweak the lower, middle and upper classes with equal glee.

Judith Starkadder
Eileen Atkins
Flora Poste
Kate Beckinsale
Ada Doom
Sheila Burrell
Mybug
Stephen Fry
Adam Lambsbreath
Freddie Jones
Mrs Mary Smiling
Joanna Lumley
Amos Starkadder
Ian McKellen
Mrs Beetle
Miriam Margolyes
Seth Starkadder
Rufus Sewell
Reuben Starkadder
Ivan Kaye
Urk
Jeremy Peters
Elfine Starkadder
Maria Miles
Charles Fairford
Christopher Bowen
Meriam Beetle
Louise Rea
Rennet
Sophie Revell

Director
John Schlesinger