Abigail's Party

Running Time - 1 hr 41

Certificate - Parental Guidance

Number of Discs - 1

Subtitles - Yes

Region - 2

Hilarious, cringe-inducing and shocking Mike Leigh takes aim at suburban life in the 1970s.

Shown on Play for Today in 1977, this "cocktail party from hell" wickedly took apart the tastelessness, pretensions and pomposity of England's aspiring suburban classes.

As a get-together of neighbours turns from social embarrassment. to personal antagonism to crisis. the audience is manipulated into squirming and laughing but is ultimately shocked. Alison Steadman's incredible performance as the overbearing and garish housewife Beverley launched her career, while the writer and director successfully took his improvisational methods to the big screen with films like the Oscar-nominated Secrets and Lies and the blockbuster Topsy-Turvy.