Skip to content
    skip to navigation

    Classic FM

    Listen

    On Air Now

    Smooth Classics at Seven with John Brunning 7pm - 10pm

    Smooth Classics at Seven with John Brunning

    Now Playing

    Clarinet Concerto No.3 in F minor WoO.19 (2) Louis Spohr Download 'Clarinet Concerto No.3 in F minor WoO.19 (2)' on iTunes

    Clarinet Concerto No.3 in F minor WoO.19 (2) artwork
    • Playlist
    • Schedule
    • Home
    • Radio
    • News
    • Discover Music
    • Composers
    • Artists
    • Lifestyle
    • Win
    • Charity
    • Podcasts
    • Events
    • Dating
    • Follow us on:
      Follow Classic FM on Twitter
      Follow Classic FM on Facebook
      Follow Classic FM on Instagram
      Follow Classic FM on Youtube

    Discover Music

    • Discover Music Home
    • Periods & Genres
    • Occasions
    • Mood
    • Instruments
    • Music Theory
    • Learning
    • Humour
    • Women in Music
    • More Classic FM

    Richard Curtis on the big and small screen

    Friday 8 November marks the birthday of writer/director Richard Curtis. Here's a look back at his finest moments, from Black Adder to Love Actually - and beyond.

    1. Richard Curtis Rowan Atkinson Blackadder Ben Elton

      1. Blackadder (1983-1989)

      New Zealand-born Richard Curtis studied English Language and Literature at Oxford where he met and began working with Rowan Atkinson. Curtis' first TV work was writing for Atkinson and friends on Not the Nine O'Clock News. Curtis went on to co-write four series of Blackadder, first with Atkinson, and later with Ben Elton. The music was composed by Classic FM's very own movie music supremo Howard Goodall.

    2. Richard Curtis Jeff Goldblum Rowan Atkinson

      2. The Tall Guy (1989)

      Penned by Curtis and directed by Mel Smith, The Tall Guy is one of the funniest films of the 1980s. It starred Jeff Goldblum as the fall guy breaking free from playing straight man to Rowan Atkinson's tyrannical comedian, falling in love with Emma Thompson and landing the starring role in a dubious stage musical based on The Elephant Man.

    3. Richard Curtis

      3. Mr. Bean (1990-2007)

      Another mighty collaboration between Rowan Atkinson, Richard Curtis and composer Howard Goodall. Mr. Bean went stellar, winning countless awards and attracting 18.74 million viewers for a 1991 episode 'The Trouble with Mr. Bean'. It has been sold in 245 territories worldwide and there's been an animated cartoon spin-off, two feature films, and an appearance by Mr. Bean with the London Symphony Orchestra at the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony.

    4. Richard Curtis Dawn French Vicar Dibley

      4. The Vicar of Dibley (1994-2007)

      In 1994, Curtis created and co-wrote The Vicar of Dibley for Dawn French. In a 2004 online poll, The Vicar of Dibley was voted the third best sitcom in British history and Blackadder the second, making Curtis the only screenwriter to have created two shows within the poll's top ten programmes. Classic FM's Howard Goodall provided the music once again for the series.

    5. Richard Curtis Four Weddings Hugh Grant Richard Rodney Bennett

      5. Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)

      A big screen breakthrough for Curtis. Starring Hugh Grant and Andie MacDowell, Four Weddings was produced on a limited budget but went on to be the biggest grossing British film in history at that time. Curtis won an Oscar nomination for the script. The distinguished British composer Sir Richard Rodney Bennett provided the score.

    6. Richard Curtis Notting Hill Julia Roberts Hugh Grant

      6. Notting Hill (1999)

      The magic combination of Curtis and Hugh Grant did it again - this time with the help of Julia Roberts as the world's most famous movie star. Notting Hill broke the record set by Four Weddings to become the top-grossing British film of all time. Trevor "The Last of the Mohicans' Jones composed the gentle uplifting music.

    7. Richard Curtis Love Actually Hugh Grant Emma Thompson

      7. Love Actually (2003)

      A winning formula - Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson and Rowan Atkinson reunited with Curtis as director and writer and a touching Craig Armstrong score. The film featured a veritable Who's Who of British actors, including Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Bill Nighy, Emma Thompson, Liam Neeson, Alan Rickman and Keira Knightley, and followed the love lives of eight very different couples in various loosely and interrelated tales all set during a month before Christmas.

    8. Richard Curtis Hans Zimmer Boat Rocked

      8. The Boat That Rocked (2009)

      Hans Zimmer was the uncredited composer on this Richard Curtis-penned comedy about a band of rogue DJs aboard a pirate radio station in 1966. The film starred Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Nick Frost, Rhys Ifans, Gemma Arterton and Kenneth Branagh.

    9. Richard Curtis War Horse Spielberg

      9. War Horse (2011)

      Curtis worked on the screenplay for Steven Spielberg's tearjerking adaptation of Michael Morpurgo's hit book and stage sensation. Curtis' work on Blackadder Goes Forth meant he was already familiar with the First World War. Spielberg's longterm collaborator John Williams provided a pastoral, Vaughan Williams-esque score.

    10. Richard Curtis About Time

      10. About Time (2013)

      Curtis wrote and directed this heartwarming sci-fi comedy which told the story of Tim who discovers he can travel in time and change what happens and has happened in his own life. But his decision to make his world a better place by getting a girlfriend turns out not to be quite so easy.

    Latest on Classic FM

    Amazing high school students sing ‘Down to the River to Pray’ from hotel balconies

    Amazing high school choir sings spiritual ‘Down to the River to Pray’ from hotel balconies

    Videos

    Boy treble Malakai Bayoh

    5 incredible high notes from star boy treble Malakai Bayoh

    Prehistoric Planet 2 composers built other-worldly instruments using real dinosaur bones

    Prehistoric Planet 2 composers built other-worldly instruments using real dinosaur bones

    Zimmer

    Classical dogs

    21 pawfect dog names for classical music lovers

    Dudamel leaves Paris, four years earlier than his planned contract with the world-renown opera house

    Gustavo Dudamel leaves Paris Opera four years early in shock resignation

    Gustavo Dudamel

    Alan Menken: ‘I knew about Lin-Manuel Miranda as a little boy, who was obsessed with The Little Mermaid!’

    Alan Menken: ‘I knew about Lin-Manuel Miranda as a little boy, who was obsessed with The Little Mermaid!’

    Alan Menken

    Are you smarter than a musical 18-year-old? Find out below...

    Can you answer these A-Level music questions? Find out if you would pass first time...

    Lifestyle

    Are you smarter than a 16-year-old? Find out below...

    Can you answer these GCSE Music questions? Find out if you would pass first time...

    Lifestyle

    Pop Gun Florida Orchestra

    This orchestra gave their percussionist a pop gun, and his solo stole the show...

    Videos

    Danielle de Niese sings 'Habanera' from Bizet's Carmen at Classic FM Live

    Operatic soprano Danielle de Niese performs Bizet’s sultry ‘Habanera’ to captivated Royal Albert Hall

    Danielle de Niese

    Best classical music

    See more Best classical music

    The 15 most famous tunes in classical music

    The 15 most famous tunes in classical music

    Best symphonies: Ludwig van Beethoven, Antonin Dvorak and Florence Price

    The 15 greatest symphonies of all time

    4 eras of classical music

    The 4 eras of classical music: a quick guide

    Women composers gallery

    21 of the greatest women composers in classical music

    Best pianists of all time

    The 25 best pianists of all time

    Most romantic opera duets (Stacey Alleaume as Violetta and Liparit Avertisyan as Alfredo in Verdi's La Traviata in Sydney, 2022)

    The 10 most romantic opera duets of all time

    More Periods and Genres

    See more More Periods and Genres

    Baroque

    Classical

    Romantic

    Film & TV

    Opera

    Video Games

    Back to top

    Also on Classic FM

    • Listen to Global Player
    • Alexander Armstrong on Classic FM
    • Google Doodle
    • Quizzes
    • Mozart
    • Debussy
    • Music theory
    • Instruments
    • Classic FM Live
    • Brahms
    • Vivaldi
    • Bach
    • LBC News
    • Tchaikovsky
    • Chopin
    • Andrea Bocelli
    • Florence Price
    • Beethoven
    • Best classical music
    • Classic FM Requests
    • Best pianists
    • Harry Potter music
    • Saturday Night at the Movies
    • Star Wars soundtrack
    • Composer or pasta
    • Music for Studying
    • Best violinists
    • Classical music tearjerkers
    • Relaxing classical

    Useful Links

    • Contact Us
    • Help
    • How To Listen
    • About Classic FM
    • Company Details
    • Cookies
    • Privacy
    • Terms & Conditions
    • Advertise
    • Global Jobs

    Download the app

    Get it on the app store Get it on Google Play

    Follow Us

    Follow Classic FM on Twitter
    Follow Classic FM on Facebook
    Follow Classic FM on Instagram
    Follow Classic FM on Youtube
    © Global 2023
    30 Leicester Square, London, WC2H 7LA
    Privacy Manager