In Character: Peter Sellers
The British Film Institute season
by Mark Cousins
“For me, the most influential
actor in films was Peter Sellers”
– Robin Williams
Marking what would have been his one hundredth birthday, for their Sellers retrospective season the BFI’s Justin Johnson and Dick Fiddy have worked hard to choose performances which include his breakthrough roles, formative years and greatest hits together with some rare and seldom shown material.
Rather than provide full details of every film, I have just focused on the basics. Full information on the BFI’s programme can be found on their website, together with more information on each of the films and screenings.
BFI Website
For those who can’t get there, you might like to know about the BFI Player where you can stream other Sellers films including: Mr Topaz, Let’s Go Crazy, The Optimists of Nine Elms, Penny Points To Paradise, The Slappiest Days Of Our Lives and The Blockhouse.
BFI Player
The season runs throughout August. Coincident with this, on 4th August Studiocanal will be releasing:
There will also be a Peter Sellers box-set with these titles and more!
The BFI’s screenings are as follows:
Sellers In Context
Tuesday 05 August 2025 18:20
The season opens with this introductory event which takes the form of a richly illustrated discussion. Invited guests will explore Sellers’ iconic roles, his comedic brilliance and his lasting influence on film and modern comedy.
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The Ladykillers UK 1955 – (97 mins) Digital 4K
Saturday 02 August 2025, Monday 11 August 2025 & Tuesday 19 August 2025
Sellers’ A breakthrough role that allowed him to work with his hero and inspiration, Alec Guinness.
Shown together with….
An Audio Recording 1955 – (7 mins)
Sellers’ own privately recorded promotional audio recording in which he impersonates the entire cast and the director!
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The Smallest Show on Earth – 1957 (80 mins) 35mm
Saturday 02 August 2025 18:15 & Sunday 17 August 2025 15:30
Sellers as projectionist Percy Quill alongside Bernard Miles and Margaret Rutherford.
Screened with…
In Focus – Number One: The Super Secret Service – 1953 (24 mins) Video
A rare chance to see Sellers with Graham Stark and Dick Emery in this short by Goon Show script writers Spike Milligan and Larry Stephens.
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The Naked Truth – 1957 (91 mins) 35mm
Sunday 03 August 2025 15:00 & Wednesday 13 August 2025 20:30
An early Sellers classic with Terry-Thomas which gives him the chance to play many other characters.
Followed by…
Case of the Mukkinese Battle Horn – 1956 (29 mins) 35mm
Sellers and Milligan with Dick Emery in a knockabout short written by Goon Show writer Larry Stephens with producers Harry Booth and Jon Pennington.
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I’m All Right Jack – 1959 (105 mins) Digital
Tuesday 05 August 2025 20:20 & Saturday 16 August 2025 12:20
A big breakthrough film for Sellers which set him on the road to real film stardom with the creation of one of his best remembered characters, Union Shop Steward Fred Kite. A real British comedy classic with co-stars Terry-Thomas and a host of supporting character actors.
Screened with…
The Running, Jumping and Standing Still film – 1960 (11 mins) Digital
A hugely influential experimental short devised by Sellers and shot on his own 16mm camera. Nominated for the 1959 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short, it influenced director Dick Lester when he made The Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night.
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Two Way Stretch (New Restoration) – 1960 (87 mins) Digital 4k restoration
Wednesday 06 August 2025 20:45 & Wednesday 13 August 2025 18:10
Sellers in prison with David Lodge and Bernard Cribbins overseen by Lionel Jeffries
Followed by…
World Premiere of 4K Restoration: Insomnia Is Good For You –1957 (26 mins) Digital 4k restoration
One of three lost shorts featuring Sellers as everyman Hector Dimwittie, in which he spends a weekend worrying about a meeting with his boss and is unable to sleep for 62 hours.
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Heavens Above 1963 (118 mins) Digital 4k restoration
Saturday 09 August 2025 14:50 & Monday 18 August 2025 20:25
In another Boulting brothers’ film, the wrong vicar is appointed to a parish and tries to implement Christian values.
Screened together with…
Cold Comfort – 1957 (16 mins) Video
Another lost short featuring Sellers as Hector Dimwittie who catches a cold and tries many ways of treating it.
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World Premiere of 4K Restoration: Only Two Can Play – 1962 (106 mins) Digital 4k restoration
Monday 25 August 2025 15:00 & Friday 15 August 2025 18:15 + intro by Vic Pratt, Producer, BFI Home Entertainment
Caught between his ambitious wife and a glamorous amateur actress, Welsh librarian John Lewis is caught with the seven-year itch.
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The Wrong Arm of the Law – 1963 (94 mins) Digital 4k restoration
Tuesday 12 August 2025 18:10 & Saturday 23 August 2025 18:00
Sellers is ‘Pearly’ Gates, an underworld kingpin, who enters into an uneasy alliance with the police to thwart a gang of Australian crooks muscling-in on the local territory by posing as police officers.
Shown alongside…
World Premiere of 4K Restoration: Dearth of A Salesman – 1957 (30 mins)
The third lost Sellers shorts as Hector Dimwittie, this time as a salesman.
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Dr Strangelove – 1963 (95 mins) Digital 4k
Saturday 09 August 2025 12:15, Friday 22 August 2025 20:50, Monday 25 August 2025 18:10 & Thursday 28 August 2025 20:45
A Sellers classic in which he plays three roles, but steals the film with Dr. Strangelove with some memorable, mostly improvised set pieces.
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Being There – 1979 (130 mins) Digital
Sunday 03 August 2025 18:10, Tuesday 26 August 2025 18:00 & Saturday 30 August 2025 20:25
In what has been referred to as Sellers’ swansong, he is Chance, the gardener. Arguably the perfect end to Sellers’ film career in which he plays a faceless nonentity who becomes both a celebrity and a presidential advisor.
Shown together with…
Promotional film with director Hal Ashby – 1979 (3 mins) Video
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A Shot in the Dark USA – 1964 (102 mins) Digital
Sunday 24 August 2025 12:20 & Wednesday 27 August 2025 18:20
The second Pink Panther film to feature Sellers as Inspector Clouseau
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The Return of the Pink Panther – 1975 (114 mins) 35mm
Sunday 24 August 2025 14:50 & Wednesday 27 August 2025 20:40
Arguably the best film in the revival of the Pink Panther series
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Peter Sellers: Oddities and Rarities (100 mins)
Monday 18 August 2025 18:15
A bespoke collection of Sellers’ TV appearances including interviews and performances with, Spike Milligan, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, Anthony Newley and Eric Sykes together with some footage of Sellers’ home movies.
Together with…
The Whistling Spy Enigma. A filmed TV version of a Goon Show filmed for Secombe and Friends but only shown in part.
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In addition, the BFI are showing the following BFI Families screenings:
Tom Thumb – 1958 (95 mins) 35mm
Saturday 02 August 2025 12:00 & Sunday 10 August 2025 12:00
Sellers paired with Terry-Thomas as a pair of thieves for this telling of the Grimms fairytale
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The Optimists of Nine Elms – 1973 (111 mins) 35mm
Saturday 23 August 2025 12:10 & Saturday 30 August 2025 12:10
This charming and underrated family film sees Sellers as an itinerant busker who befriends two children.
An understated and underrated comedy laced with melancholic charm.
My summary – One of the most extensive and well thought through selections of some of the best performances from throughout Sellers’ career. We can all say, why aren’t they showing for example; The Millionairess, Lolita, Never Let Go or There’s A Girl In My Soup. But even with quite a big expanse of slots to fill, so diverse was Sellers’ career that it’s impossible to please everyone. It is however especially nice to see a few rarities screened in amongst the classics and favourites. Hat’s off to the BFI for getting it right!
The Goon Show Preservation Society 