Movies by Paul Popplewell
Criminal
Simon Willerton's suicide in 1990 brought to six the number of young prisoners who hanged themselves in British prisons in just over six months, prompting public debate over conditions in remand prisons like Armley where overcrowding was so severe that no new inmates could be admitted. Simon faced a burglary charge over the theft of a hot-water bottle from an unoccupied flat. Less a hardened criminal than an immature, gawky teenager who never fitted in, Simon and his tragic death inspired this teleplay.
On the Road
North London band Wolf Alice have had a rise to prominence that might have been bends-inducing were it not for their tightness as a group. In summer of 2015, the deliciously dark, hook-and-riff-filled sound of their debut album, My Love Is Cool, inspired the NME to crown it: "the debut of the decade". As a measure of their impact, BAFTA-winning filmmaker Michael Winterbottom joined the band on the road, capturing 16 different gigs and daily life backstage.
The Somme
Drama-documentary recounting the events of the 1st July 1916 and the Battle of the Somme on the Western Front during the First World War. Told through the letters and journals of soldiers who were there.
Rehab
TV drama - following Adam Bishop, a petty criminal, as he leaves prison for a drugs rehabilitation programme in order to turn his life around.
Journeyman
A boxer suffers a serious head injury during a fight, and must deal with the consequences.
ID2: Shadwell Army
Long-awaited sequel to the 1995 film. A young British Asian, Mo is a fast-rising police officer who goes under cover infiltrating Shadwell's resurgent hooligan element, who are fired up by Shadwells's takeover by a Russian oligarch and their unlikely adventure into European competition. Mo quickly becomes embroiled in the local schism between the BNP and EDL and plans to build a new mosque in the shadow of the Shadwell ground creates an explosive environment in which football and political violence form a perfect storm of social unrest. In t...