Brilliantly British: Stories Worth Streaming
Beamafilm
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21/09/2026
From razor-sharp comedy and gripping crime to sweeping period drama and stories of extraordinary real lives, British film and television have a style all their own.
This month, we’re celebrating some of the best of British storytelling on Beamafilm, where unforgettable characters, distinctly British wit and world-class performances meet stories that travel far beyond Britain’s shores.
🇬🇧 Crime, intrigue & a very British mystery
Few things are quite as satisfying as a cleverly constructed British mystery. Think atmospheric settings, complicated characters, unexpected twists and detectives who notice the detail everyone else has missed.
Whether you prefer an ingenious whodunnit, an espionage thriller or a slow-burning psychological drama, settle in and prepare to be thoroughly absorbed.
👑 History brought vividly to life
Kings and queens, wars and scandals, artists and aristocrats, Britain's extraordinary history has provided filmmakers with no shortage of material.
Explore stories that transport us into another era while revealing the personalities, politics and social changes that helped shape modern Britain.
😂 Nobody does dry quite like the British
Understatement. Awkwardness. Absurdity delivered with a perfectly straight face.
British comedy has an unmistakable rhythm, finding humour everywhere from family life and social convention to class, politics and the everyday indignities of being human.
🎭 Big performances. Remarkable lives.
British cinema also excels at intimate character studies and compelling portraits of real people - writers, artists, musicians, political figures, pioneers and eccentrics whose lives have left their mark on the world.
The smallest, most personal stories sometimes prove the most memorable.
Whether your idea of a perfect British watch involves a country manor, a windswept coastline, the streets of London, an unsolved crime or simply an excellent cup of tea, there’s plenty to discover.
So put the kettle on, find your favourite spot on the sofa and explore British stories on Beamafilm.
🎬 Start watching with your library card today.
Watch for FREE with a participating library card or on a 30-day trial. Also, you can rent a film for 72 hours.
Two teenagers, Princess Margaret and the future Queen of England, Elizabeth II, are allowed out at night for the first time to join the party.
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Young Australian, Barry McKenzie, travels to England with his Aunt Edna after his father dies and a request is revealed in his will. Directed by Bruce Beresford and starring Barry Humphries, the Adventures of Barry McKenzie is an Aussie...
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Scottish islanders try to plunder cases of whisky from a stranded ship during WWII.
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Bernard Jordan escapes from his care home to attend the 70th Anniversary of the D-Day Landings in France. Based on a true story.
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An aged, retired Sherlock Holmes deals with early dementia, as he tries to remember his final case, and a mysterious woman, whose memory haunts him.
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A feature documentary celebrating everything great and British.
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A detective fantasy / family drama where a love of words helps a father reconnect with a missing son.
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A look at the lives of two teenage girls - inseparable friends Ginger and Rosa - growing up in 1960s London as the Cuban Missile Crisis looms, and the pivotal event that comes to redefine their relationship.
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The story of King George VI, his impromptu ascension to the throne of the British Empire in 1936, and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch overcome his stammer.
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A young woman wishes to fulfill her mother's dream of opening her own bakery in Notting Hill, London. To do this, she enlists the help of an old friend and her grandma.
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A dramatization of the 1968 strike at the Ford Dagenham car plant, where female workers walked out in protest against sexual discrimination.
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The story of Joan Stanley, who was exposed as the K.G.B.'s longest-serving British spy.
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1940, London, the Blitz; with the country’s morale at stake, Catrin, an untried screenwriter, and a makeshift cast and crew, work to make a film to lift the nation’s spirits – and inspire America to join the war.
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Lee Alexander McQueen's fierce romanticism and punk poetry helped create 1990s-era 'Cool Britannia' - and a lad from the East End of London become one of the most original and influential artists of the 20th Century.
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The ultimate nostalgia trip through everything edible in 1960s Britain.
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At a home for retired musicians, the annual concert to celebrate Composer Giuseppe Verdi's birthday is disrupted by the arrival of Jean, an eternal diva and the former wife of one of the residents.
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Amid scandal, intrigue and conflict, Russian empress Catherine the Great develops a unique and devoted relationship with Grigory Potemkin overcoming their adversaries and serving as the architects of modern-day Russia.
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Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin is a teenage dreamer determined to make her mark on the world when she meets the dashing and brilliant poet Percy Shelley.
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Colette is pushed by her husband to write novels under his name. Upon their success, she fights to make her talents known, challenging gender norms.
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A maid living in post-World War I England secretly plans to meet with the man she loves before he leaves to marry another woman.
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Douglas 'Arm' Armstrong has become the feared enforcer for the drug-dealing Devers family, whilst also trying to be a good father. Torn between these two families, Arm's loyalties are tested when he is asked to kill for the first time.
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1840s England, acclaimed but overlooked fossil hunter Mary Anning and a young woman sent to convalesce by the sea develop an intense relationship, altering both of their lives forever.
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On the eve of World War II, a young American reporter tries to expose enemy agents in London.
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A teenager spends his summer listening to heavy metal music and trying to get along with his librarian mom.
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The untold story of the last days in the tragic times of Oscar Wilde, a person who observes his own failure with ironic distance and regards the difficulties that beset his life with detachment and humour.
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In Cornwall, 1819, a young woman discovers she's living near a gang of criminals who arrange shipwrecks for profit.
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Novelist Richard Somers and his wife abandon the emotional sterility of Europe in the early '20s for a new life in Australia.
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An intimate portrait of comic genius Spike Milligan.
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This film follows the life and works of the great English dramatist, William Shakespeare. His works reflect the impact of his classical education in the literary works of Ancient Greece and Rome, as well as his experience of...
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Politics and passion clash in this doomed love affair between a Roman general and the Egyptian queen.
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An aging monarch's misjudgment drives a kingdom into chaos and a father into despair.
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Star-crossed lovers defy a bitter family feud, only to find unity through tragic sacrifice.
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Ambition and prophecy drive a loyal general to regicide and madness.
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Sherlock Holmes sets out to discover why a trio of murderous villains, including a dangerously attractive female, are desperate to obtain three unassuming and inexpensive little music boxes.
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After their home is destroyed by invaders, a peasant family escapes into the woods in a desperate attempt to survive the attack.
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The master sleuth hunts his archenemy, Professor Moriarty, who is planning the crime of the century.
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A Scotland Yard undercover detective is on the trail of a saboteur who is part of a plot to set off a bomb in London. But when the detective's cover is blown, the plot begins to unravel.
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Adventurer Vitharr, braves the harsh new environments of a foreign land in order to reach the safehaven of his Uncle’s settlement.
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A doctor washes ashore on an island inhabited by little people.
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Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson must protect a Swiss inventor of an advanced bomb sight from falling into German hands.
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England 1645: After years of civil war, King Charles I is overthrown and two heroes have emerged – Lord General Thomas Fairfax and his best friend deputy General Oliver Cromwell. But now they must vie for power.
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A biography of the doomed monarch whose devotion to her cousin Elizabeth I, and duty to her country was her demise. A queen who lost three kingdoms. A wife who lost three husbands. A woman who lost her head.
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This film by Malcolm Hossick follows the life and work of George Orwell, an English novelist and essayist whose works reflected his interests in politics and poverty.
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This series covers the life of David Beckham, the international soccer star. Looking at his rise to stardom, fame and fortune, we explore one of the all-time greatest footballers.
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If anyone can say he's had a storybook life, it's Prince William, the first-born son of England's beloved Princess Diana and the second in line after his father, Prince Charles - to become King.
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In this unique documentary, we examine all that Diana, the Princess of Wales, left the world when she met her tragic end in 1997. We are shown interviews with her sons Prince William and Prince Harry, the Kensington Palace...
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From childhood to later in life, this biographical documentary examines the Queen's enduring reign in England, her relations across the Commonwealth, and beyond. Unique photographs and remarkable archival footage show how...
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watchlist, british film