Tortoise In Love

It takes a village to raise a child, as the African proverb goes. The villagers of Kingston Bagpuize have gone one further: they’ve raised a romcom. It’s the brainchild of ex-Guardian columnist (and real-life Bagpuize local) Guy Browning, making his debut as a writer-director. The cast is made up of residents of the Oxfordshire village (who financed the film to the tune of up to £1,000 each) and actors of course, with the Women’s Institute handling the catering. They even talked MP Ed Vaizey into making a cameo. (One for the Big Society?) Browning tailors the plot to the village’s best asset: its stately pile, where gardener Tom (Tom Mitchelson) falls in love with the Polish au pair (Alice Zawadzki). Fans of Browning’s columns will recognise the script’s gentle-poke satire. Here’s a villager explaining the British boarding school system to the au pair: ‘Rich people do it to spend more time with their dogs.’ It’s sharper than your average Britcom, and perfectly charming, so you’ll forgive a bit of amateurism and wooden acting.