{"id":31276,"date":"2025-09-22T16:23:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T16:23:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/31276\/"},"modified":"2025-09-22T16:23:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T16:23:12","slug":"a-brilliant-80s-set-british-drama-that-is-wickedly-witty-is-on-tv-tonight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/31276\/","title":{"rendered":"A “brilliant” ’80s-set British drama that is “wickedly witty” is on TV tonight"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alan Bennett’s British drama The History Boys<\/a> is on TV tonight. Set in the ’80s, the story follows eight scrappy grammar school students who are hoping to attend Oxford or Cambridge University, after obtaining impressive A-Level grades.<\/p>\n

As the boys prepare for the Oxbridge exams, their headmaster hires Irwin, a young teacher and former Oxford student, to whip them into shape. But the kids find themselves torn between Irwin’s bold new ideas and the more conventional approach of their beloved teacher Hector. <\/p>\n

The History Boys<\/a> is airing on BBC Two tonight (22 September) at 11.00pm. But if that’s too late for a school night, it will also be available to stream on BBC iPlayer following the TV broadcast. <\/p>\n

What to Read Next<\/p>\n

Adapted from Bennett’s 2004 play of the same name<\/a>, the movie sees the original theatre cast reprising their respective roles for the big screen. <\/p>\n

The cast features a plethora of famous faces, including James Corden<\/a> (Timms), Dominic Cooper (Dakin), Sacha Dhawan (Akhtar), Russell Tovey<\/a> (Rudge), Samuel Barnett (Posner), Samuel Anderson (Crowther), Jamie Parker (Scripps) and Andrew Knott (Lockwood) as the unruly schoolboys.<\/p>\n

\"russell<\/p>\n

20th Century Studios<\/p>\n

Related: Best streaming services in 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Harry Potter’s Richard Griffiths (Hector) and Frances de la Tour (Mrs Lintott), Clive Merrison (Headmaster), Corrie’s Georgia Taylor (Fiona) and Stephen Campbell Moore (Irwin) also star. <\/p>\n

The drama, which was released in 2006, currently holds a 66% score from 103 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes<\/a>, with the BBC<\/a> branding it “wickedly witty”.<\/p>\n

\"james<\/p>\n

20th Century Studios<\/p>\n

Related: Anne-Marie Duff’s mystery thriller that will keep you “guessing at every moment” is on TV tonight<\/a><\/p>\n

“The movie is brilliant and infectious, much like Bennett’s voice: English-deadpan but never snide, and generous to a fault,” added New York Magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, if you’re looking for another Monday night movie, BBC Three is airing Nicole Kidman’s Before I Go to Sleep at 10.30pm. The psychological thriller follows a woman who suffers a brain injury and is unable to form new memories. As she tries to recollect the truth about her life, shocking details begin to emerge and she is left with more questions than answers. <\/p>\n

Also on the schedule tonight is Team America: World Police, which is airing on Film4 at 11.05pm. The action comedy combines satire and puppetry to tell the story of an American counterterrorism plan gone wrong. <\/p>\n

The new edition of Living Legends is here! Buy Gaga in newsagents or online<\/a>, priced at just \u00a38.99.<\/p>\n

\"Lettermark\"<\/p>\n

Divya is a freelance writer with experience in entertainment and lifestyle news. Described as a “telly addict” since childhood, Divya was able to translate her interests into a BJTC-accredited, Honours degree in Journalism and Media. After working in communications and marketing, Divya joined Digital Spy<\/a>\u00a0as a Freelance News Reporter. She has also written for various publications including\u00a0Metro<\/a>,\u00a0Asian World News\u00a0and\u00a0TwitCelebGossip;\u00a0as well as interviews, features and reviews on her own blog. Divya prides herself on her TV,\u00a0film<\/a>\u00a0and showbiz knowledge, always offering (not so) fun facts to her long-suffering friends and family. From\u00a0soaps<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0superheroes<\/a>, Divya is the go-to person for tailored recommendations\u00a0and up to date information.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alan Bennett’s British drama The History Boys is on TV tonight. Set in the ’80s, the story follows…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31277,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[635,26673,637,146,85,46,636,26672,411],"class_list":["post-31276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-content-type-news","tag-contentid-43d69293-e414-43b3-bff5-4f76d3f53e4e","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-locale-gb","tag-shorttitle-a-wickedly-witty-british-drama-is-on-tv-tonight","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31276\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}