The Lady in the Van (2015)

Nicholas Hytner’s adaptation of Alan Bennett’s memoir about an eccentric old lady who takes up residence on his Camden Town driveway. 

Alex Jennings plays Bennett. Maggie Smith is superb in the lead role, giving a suitably cantankerous and unlikable yet intelligent performance. I found the gimmick of two Alan Bennetts (as writer Alan talks to regular-guy Alan) an unwieldy distraction. Introducing the real Alan Bennett in a tricksy cameo at the end was further self-indulgent silliness. 

To the film's credit it doesn't sentimentalise the original material (there's plenty about toilet matters), and it reveals psychological depths that a lesser director might have ignored in favour of lazy farce. It also looks at middle-class guilt and how people behave when confronted by difficult situations that puncture the veneer of social normality.

I was pleased to see Rising Damp's Frances de la Tour as one of the neighbours.

The Queen (2006)

Drama directed by Stephen Frears about the Queen’s reaction to the death of Princess Diana in 1997, and the new Prime Minister’s role in her subsequent actions. 

Helen Mirren plays the monarch. Martin Sheen plays Tony Blair, brilliantly capturing something of his personality. 

It’s subtle and surprisingly funny, working as social history, gentle satire and an insightful character study.

Of course we’ll never know how accurate it is in terms of the private conversations within the palace, but the general trend of events is backed up by actual news footage (as well as our memories of living through that remarkable period).