Merton of the Movies

The stranger-than-fiction true story of George Lazenby, a poor Australian car mechanic who, through an unbelievable set of circumstances, landed the role of James Bond despite having never acted a day in his life.

The star of "Song of the Toreador" receives threatening messages that he will not survive the preview screening of the film. The studio publicist works with the Director, the Producer and the police, to discover who is behind the threats.

A grocery clerk, longing to become a cowboy actor, goes to Hollywood in search of fame and fortune. Unfortunately, his acting ability is non-existent.

Story of a Hollywood studio during the transition from silents to talkies.

Down-on-his-luck film director Jimmie Dale takes a job at a fly-by-night acting school. He is drawn into the plans of the school's owner to bilk a wealthy young man out of the funds he has supplied to shoot a movie starring pretty student Alice Perkins. But Jimmie hopes to bilk the bilkers by actually completing the movie as ostensibly planned.

Hollywood hopeful Peggy Pepper arrives at a major studio, from Georgia, to become a great dramatic star. Things don't go entirely according to plan.

Pretty female attorney Abigail "AJ" Furnival is hired to keep high-flying cowboy movie star Ben Castle out of trouble in Las Vegas. Despite his many faults, Abigail falls in love with and marries Ben, with the hope that she can mold him into the virtuous hero he plays on the screen.

Philandering actor Richard Hardell is murdered at a movie studio. His jealous wife Blanche, his director Rupert Borka, and a girl he mistreated, Helen MacDonald, all have substantial reasons for having wanted him dead.

Virginia Perry, a former movie star, leaves her family and returns to Hollywood to make a comeback, but age has taken its toll and she is cast in small character roles. Meanwhile, her daughter, Betty Ann, has won a beauty contest, and heads for Hollywood. They end up in the same, film, with Mom playing her Mom. Marshall tries to take advantage of the naive Betty. Somebody gets shot. Somebody is put on trial.

Wonder Pictures has been striking out at the box office lately, causing the seedy PR man to involve main star Annabel in ever outrageous stunts for publicity.

An aging star finally recognizes the truth when she is replaced in her new movie by a girl from the chorus.

A naïve farm girl is duped by con men who promise her movie stardom in exchange for her savings.

Annabel Allison, star of Wonder Pictures, is irked at her poor publicity, especially when a rival gets engaged to a Marquis; so she makes studio head Webb re-hire disgraced publicity agent Morgan for her personal appearance tour. The trip proceeds with a flurry of Morgan's crazy, slapstick publicity stunts. Then Annabel has her chance to "bag" a real Viscount.

A commercial pilot romances both a Hollywood actress and a female aviator. 1937.

A Cinderella story of a young country girl who comes to Hollywood and achieves movie stardom with the help of a publicity man.

An aspiring actress is presented with an arrangement that would link her romantically to a big star in Hollywood, but sticking to the details of her contract may not be easy.

Film star Vince Chase navigates the vapid terrain of Los Angeles with a close circle of friends and his trusty agent.

Disillusioned after a long career at Sunshine Desserts, Perrin goes through a mid-life crisis and fakes his own death. Returning in disguise after various attempts at finding a 'new life', he gets his old job back and finds nothing has changed. He is eventually found out, and in the second series has success with a chain of shops selling useless junk. That becomes so successful that he feels he has created a monster and decides to destroy it. In the third and final series he has a dream of forming a commune which his long suffering colleagues help bring to reality. Unfortunately that also fails and he finds himself back in a job not unlike the one he originally had at Sunshine Desserts.

Paul Merton's Birth of Hollywood is a 2011 BBC documentary series written, directed and presented by Paul Merton. The three-part series traces the rise of the American film-making industry in Hollywood through from the early years of film-making to the foundation of the major motion-picture studios and the new class of the film star.

A 1980 documentary series exploring the establishment and development of the Hollywood studios and its impact on 1920s culture.

Six young performers having been dubbed “most likely to succeed” in their hometowns now face the challenges and opportunities of a lifetime in the City of Angels.

Ed Asner tells the story of RKO Pictures from the 1920s to the 1960s.

Count Arthur Strong is a faded star from the golden days of variety, prone to delusions of grandeur, selective memory loss and the blurting out of malapropisms. He was never as famous as he thinks he was... or still thinks he is. Believing that another great entertainment triumph is only a phone call away, Arthur spends his day making the most of any opportunity that comes along - gaining a free lunch or selling a dodgy foot-spa he doesn't want - creating chaos and confusion wherever he goes, blissfully unaware that he has done so.

Hollywood Wives tells the stories of several women in Hollywood, from powerful talent agents and screenwriters to vivacious screen vixens and young, innocent newcomers.

The biography of British 'Blonde Bombshell', Diana Dors.

Chronicles the life of Judy Garland, from her first public performance in 1924 until her death.

Bit Playas follows Ahmed and Leon as they spend their days hustling in the casting room, working jobs in the real world, deflecting the occasional “soft racism” and dealing with their own identity crises.

Documentary series tracking the dreams and worries of Wrexham, a working-class town in North Wales, UK, as two Hollywood stars (Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds) take ownership of the town’s historic yet struggling football club.

The four-part drama series will tell the story of Cary Grant’s life, from his humble beginnings as Archie Leach in Bristol, England to the Hollywood leading man he became.

The inner workings of an American jury trial through the eyes of one particular juror, Ronald Gladden. Gladden is unaware the entire case is fake, everyone except him is an actor and everything that happens — inside the courtroom and out — is carefully planned.