For a very special 100th episode of Screenshot, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore the cult classic TV show.

The great surrealist American filmmaker David Lynch died in January 2025 at the age of 78. Lynch's films spanned the underground midnight movie Eraserhead, the black and white heartbreaker The Elephant Man and the critically beloved Mulholland Drive. Yet the director was perhaps most appreciated for the TV show he co-created with screenwriter Mark Frost - Twin Peaks.

Mark speaks to Mark Frost about his relationship with Lynch, and about the impact and legacy of their ground-breaking series. The pair discuss how pressure to solve the central murder of high school student Laura Palmer impacted Twin Peaks, and how the revival of the series in 2017 - after a 25 year hiatus - now seems fated.

Meanwhile, Ellen talks to critic and die-hard Twin Peaks fan Jourdain Searles about the series' dedicated cult following.

And she speaks to actor Tim Roth, star of Reservoir Dogs and Rob Roy, who got a chance to work with his hero David Lynch in 2017 on Twin Peaks: The Return.

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Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode are on patrol, investigating why the police procedural continues to be so arresting for audiences.

Mark meets the film writer and critic Kim Newman who charts the beginnings of the genre and some of its tropes. Next, he talks to the director and documentarian Sandhya Suri, to discuss her feature film debut, Santosh, that follows the journey of a widow turned police constable.

Meanwhile, Ellen discusses how fiction aimed to mimic reality in 90s TV series, Homicide: Life on the Street, with actor from the show, Kyle Secor. She also speaks to Simon Ford, executive producer of the documentary series, 24 Hours in Police Custody, who explains how dramatic structure borrowed from fiction has helped the award-winning programme tell wider stories about the world around us.

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Remakes continue to proliferate on our screens. Over the last few months, we’ve had live action remakes in cinemas of classic animations Snow White, Lilo And Stitch, and How To Train Your Dragon, along with legacy reboots of the horror hit I Know What You Did Last Summer and DC’s Superman, and - coming soon - a new spin on the 1980s comedy The Naked Gun.

So is this all just evidence of a dearth of creativity in Hollywood? Or are there some artistically valid reasons to re-make existing films? And can a remake ever be better than the original? Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode delve into the past, present and future of the remake.

Mark speaks to critic Anne Billson about the remakes she considers worthy of our attention, from Brian De Palma’s Scarface to John Carpenter’s The Thing. And he also talks with Jim McBride who, in 1983, directed Breathless - a remake of Jean-Luc Godard’s French New Wave classic A Bout de Souffle, which Mark has long considered superior to the original.

Ellen talks to TV critic Roxana Hadadi about what television can bring to the remake party - and about the TV series that managed to improve on their source material. And Ellen also speaks to Noah Hawley, showrunner of the multi-Emmy winning Fargo and upcoming Alien: Earth TV series, about the creative possibilities of TV reboots.

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30 years after Mel Gibson's Braveheart cloaked Hollywood in fake tartan, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode take the high roads and the low roads to look for the real Scotland on screen.

Ellen talks with Tayside journalist Kayleigh Donaldson about the trouble with Braveheart, why veteran Scottish director Bill Forsyth's hyper local comedy dramas Local Hero, Gregory's Girl, and That Sinking Feeling have such international appeal, and why movies such as Ben Sharrock's Limbo tell a different kind of story about Scotland.

Comedian and writer Frankie Boyle tells Ellen why Gregory's Girl is one of Scotland's most beloved films, why Lynne Ramsay's New York City based thriller You Were Never Really Here starring Joaquin Phoenix as a violent mercenary feels so Scottish, and his reservations about Danny Boyle's Trainspotting.

Mark reconnects with legendary Scottish actor and star of Succession Brian Cox who has returned to Scotland to make his directorial debut Glenrothan. They discuss Brigadoon, Braveheart (which starred Brian Cox), cultural neglect, and the Powell & Pressburger classic movie set on the Isle of Mull, I Know Where I'm Going.

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Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode celebrate 25 years of In The Mood For Love - director Wong Kar Wai's acclaimed romantic drama starring Maggie Cheung as Mrs Chan and Tony Leung as Mr Chow - two neighbours in 1960s Hong Kong, bonded by a revelation about their respective spouses.

Critically beloved on its first release back in 2000, the film is now reaching an entirely new generation of young film fans, thanks in part to its popularity on social media sites like Letterboxd and TikTok.

Mark speaks to critic and sometime filmmaker Tony Rayns, who was a key part of Wong Kar-Wai's team for many years, working closely with the director on the English subtitles for his films. Tony gives Mark the inside story of the production of In The Mood For Love, as well as some insight into the enigmatic director's sometimes chaotic working methods.

Ellen takes a trip to The Prince Charles Cinema in London's Leicester Square - where film fans in their early 20s have been packing screenings of In The Mood For Love - to try to get a sense of why Wong Kar Wai's modern masterpiece has developed such a devoted fanbase. And she speaks to Paul Vickery - Head of Programming at the Prince Charles - about the film's continuing popularity with audiences.

And Academy Award-nominated cinematographer Bradford Young tells Mark how he fell in love with the work of Wong Kar-Wai - and why he thinks In The Mood For Love is still resonating with young viewers a quarter century on.

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As music festival season takes hold of the summer, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode look at festival films from Woodstock to Summer of Soul. Can you really capture the spirit of a music festival on screen?

Mark speaks to legendary editor Thelma Schoonmaker about her era-defining, Academy Award-nominated work on the documentary film Woodstock. He then talks to maverick British director Julien Temple about filming Glastonbury - his very personal film about the history of the English music festival.

Ellen talks to music journalist Shaad D’Souza about the relationship between festivals and screen culture in the 21st century, from Bridget Jones to Beyonce at Coachella. And she also speaks to director Jamie Crawford, whose 2022 documentary series Trainwreck: Woodstock 99 showed - in some detail - what can happen when the festival dream gets torn down and trampled underfoot.

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Fifty years ago this summer, Jaws was released in the US. Directed by Steven Spielberg and based on the bestselling novel by Peter Benchley, the film - about a coastal resort town threatened by a great white stark at the busiest time of the year - was a groundbreaking box office phenomenon.

Jaws changed the industry overnight - pioneering new marketing and release patterns, and altering the focus and mix of movies that Hollywood made - some say for the worse.

From Jaws and Star Wars through to the double whammy of Barbenheimer, summer blockbusters have dominated cinemas. But is this changing? And is there more to the summer blockbuster than big box office and a summer release date? Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode join the queue for popcorn to explore the genre.

Mark speaks to critic and author Tim Robey about how Jaws went from potential disaster to record-breaking hit, and about the summer blockbusters that followed. And he also speaks to Jenny He, senior exhibitions curator at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, about the museum’s forthcoming ‘Jaws: The Exhibition’ and the marketing techniques that helped make the 1975 film such a success.

Meanwhile, Ellen talks to pop culture critic Kayleigh Donaldson about box office mega-hits for the modern age - and how the inescapable megalith of Marvel has impacted the summer film landscape.

And Ellen also speaks to Canadian filmmaker Nyla Innuksuk about her 2022 film Slash/Back - a Spielberg-influenced summer-blockbuster-in-spirit sci-fi adventure movie set in the remote Arctic fishing town of Pangnirtung.

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The Brutalist has been one of the most talked about films of the year and taps into a rich vein of films and television that dramatise the immigrant experience.

From The Godfather Part 2 to Small Axe, The Emigrants to Home and Away and An American Tail - Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode examine how filmmakers have investigated and portrayed the perils, patterns and adventure of human movement across the globe.

Mark speaks to film critic Christina Newland about the history of immigrant epics in Hollywood - from Once Upon a Time in America to The Brutalist.

Ellen then speaks to writer and creator of the tv series Get Millie Black, Marlon James, about his experience watching Small Axe for the first time. Ellen also talks to director Sir Steve McQueen about his anthology series Small Axe and how the films act as their own immigrant epic for the Windrush generation.

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Pretty Woman was released in 1990. One of the most beloved and successful romantic comedies of all time, the film tells the Cinderella story of a sex worker, played by Julia Roberts, who finds love with a slick businessman - Richard Gere - after he picks her up on Hollywood Boulevard.

Fast forward to 2025 and the astonishing Oscar success of Anora - director Sean Baker’s tale of a young sex worker whose whirlwind affair with a Russian billionaire’s son turns bad, fast.

So how has the way we treat sex work on screen changed? Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode delve into the long and thorny relationship between cinema and sex work.

Mark speaks to film historian and critic Pamela Hutchinson about how sex work has been tackled in over a hundred years of movies - from early silent films like Pandora’s Box, to the work of Sean Baker. They discuss Jane Fonda’s Oscar-winning turn as a ‘call girl’ in Klute, and look at how male sex worker films like Midnight Cowboy might approach the subject differently.

Meanwhile, Ellen talks to Andrea Werhun, the writer, performer and real-life sex worker who served as a consultant on Anora - about her work on the film, and her love for another Richard Gere sex work film, American Gigolo.

And Ellen also speaks to Kristen Lovell and Zachary Drucker, whose 2023 documentary The Stroll traced the history of trans sex workers in New York City’s Meatpacking District. Kristen and Zachary discuss why sex work has been a key part of trans history - and what they think Anora’s success means for sex workers.

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Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode waltz into the magical world of Studio Ghibli, as the animation giant celebrates its 40th birthday.

Ellen speaks to the film, TV and video game critic, Kambole Campbell about Studio Ghibli's origin story and key aspects of visual style. Also, the animator and co-founder of Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon, Nora Twomey discusses the emotional impact of films like My Neighbour Totoro, and Grave of the Fireflies.

Mark meets actor, Emily Mortimer who discusses the process of re-dubbing for the film, Howl's Moving Castle. And the animator and director, Michaël Dudok de Wit discusses the collaborative relationship forged with Studio Ghibli, while working on his feature length production, The Red Turtle.

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With the latest series of the much-discussed drama The White Lotus recently wrapped up, Screenshot asks why cinema and TV make so many return visits to hotels as a setting.

Whether sinister and scary like in The Shining or Psycho, fabulous but faded like The Grand Budapest Hotel, or comically chaotic like in Fawlty Towers, hotels offer a myriad of possible opportunities for drama. Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode check in to check out their rich history on screen.

Ellen talks to film critic Hannah Strong about the timeless appeal of screen stays from the 1932 classic Grand Hotel to The White Lotus - and about how directors Wes Anderson and Sofia Coppola have made hotels the focus of some of their most famous films.

Ellen also speaks to Sean MacPherson, hotelier, cinephile and co-owner of the storied Hotel Chelsea in New York City, about the glamorous allure of historic hotels - and the impact of the movies on hotel design.

Mark speaks to writer and critic Anne Billson about the seedier - and scarier - side of hotels on screen, from the Coen Brothers' 1991 cult classic Barton Fink, to the 1990 Roald Dahl fantasy The Witches.

And Mark also talks to director Rodney Ascher, whose 2012 documentary Room 237 explored Stanley Kubrick's The Shining from the unusual points of view of a number of theorists - all of whom seem to have checked into the film's Overlook hotel and never been able to leave.

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With the Robert Pattinson starring film Mickey 17 fresh out in the cinema, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore the world of doppelgangers and doubles on screen.

Ellen speaks to academic and doppelganger scholar Adam Golub about the difference between clones and doppelgangers and what the doppelganger tells us about life in 2025. Ellen then talks to an actress about what its like playing a clone.

Mark speaks to director Richard Ayoade about his 2013 film The Double. It stars Jesse Eisenberg and Mia Wasikowska and is an adaptation of the classic Fyodor Dostoevsky novel from 1866. Mark and Richard discuss adapting such a classic novel, the distinct look of the film and the idea of Jung's 'shadow self' and its influence on doubles on screen.

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Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode celebrate weddings in film and TV, from Muriel's Wedding to Married at First Sight.

Mark speaks to Richard Curtis about the inspiration behind the classic British wedding film, Four Weddings and a Funeral, and about Curtis' own recent wedding to long-term partner Emma Freud. And he gets critic Manuela Lazic's rundown of some of the most memorable cinematic weddings, from The Godfather to The Graduate.

Meanwhile, Ellen talks to actor Susan Wokoma about her favourite wedding romcoms - including the Julia Roberts-starring My Best Friend's Wedding. And she attempts to get to grips with the world of wedding reality TV with comedian Ashley Ray.

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With physical media sales on the rise and streaming fatigue setting in, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore the life, death and rebirth of the video shop.

Ellen takes a trip to one of the UK's few remaining stores, 20th Century Flicks in Bristol, which has a strong claim to being the longest-running video shop in the world, first opening in 1982. She speaks to manager Dave Taylor about the evolution of the shop over the last 43 years, and finds out how he feels about how video shop clerks have been depicted on screen.

Mark talks to American filmmaker Alex Ross Perry about his new essay film Videoheaven, which explores the history of videotape as a medium and video stores as physical locations, told entirely through their depiction in film and TV shows.

And Mark also speaks to writer and producer Kate Hagen about her search for the world's last great video stores.

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The last few years have seen a number of new entries on the cinematic hit list, from David Fincher’s The Killer to Richard Linklater’s Hit Man. TV has also seen its fair share of hitmen in the last year; the reboot of the 2005 Brad and Angelina film Mr and Mrs Smith; Eddie Redmayne donning various elaborate disguises in a Day of the Jackal update, as well as Black Doves. It seems these days hitmen are among TV and film’s most wanted.

Mark talks to critic Christina Newland about the history of crime cinema's enigmatic icon, exploring everything from cult oddities such as Branded to Kill to the female assassin of the 90's such as Nikita and The Long Kiss Goodnight.

Ellen goes deep on cult classic Le Samouraï with Kill List and A Field in England director Ben Wheatley and academic Ginette Vincendeau; they discuss the relationship between hitmen and samurai in cinema.

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Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore the visionary world of veteran British filmmaker Mike Leigh, as he returns with Hard Truths - his first film in six years.

Born in 1943 and raised in Salford, Leigh started his career in the theatre, before moving to TV in the 1970s, making a string of plays and films for the BBC. 

Since his very first film Bleak Moments in 1971, Mike Leigh has been at the cutting edge of British screen culture, creating a diverse body of work which ranges from the exquisitely excruciating 1970s comedy of manners Abigail’s Party, to his epic biopic of the 19th century painter Mr Turner. 

Ellen attempts to get to grips with Leigh’s singular creative process - which involves assembling a group of actors and getting them to research and develop their characters in detail. She speaks to Mike Leigh himself about how he approaches each of his films, and about the unmade big budget project he’d still like to see realised.

Mark learns about an actor’s role on a Mike Leigh project - speaking to Hard Truths lead actor Marianne Jean Baptiste, who was Oscar-nominated for her role in Leigh’s 1996 film Secrets & Lies.

And Mark also speaks to American independent filmmaker Sean Baker - whose latest film Anora is shaping up as a major Oscar contender - about the profound impact Leigh's 1993 film Naked had on his career.

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How does film and TV make time travel real? Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode take a quantum leap into the world of time travel and time loops on screen, from Back To The Future to Groundhog Day.

Mark speaks to theoretical physicist Sean Carroll about how movies like Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and Interstellar have handled the science of time travel - and whether it really is just the stuff of fantasy. And he talks to Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Knives Out director Rian Johnson about the dramatic allure of playing with time, and about Rian's 2012 film Looper, which starred Bruce Willis as a criminal sent back to the past to be eliminated by his younger self.

Meanwhile, Ellen explores a sub-genre less concerned with mechanics and physics, and more with emotion and moral dilemmas - the time loop story. She speaks to Black Doves screenwriter Joe Barton about his time loop TV series The Lazarus Project. And film critic Anne Billson runs her through some examples of the genre she finds most - and least - captivating, from Palm Springs to About Time.

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Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore how therapists have been portrayed on screen throughout cinema and television history. From the benign care of Claude Rains’ Dr Jaquith in Now, Voyager (1942), and the neuroses of Woody Allen, to the deadly Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs (1991), they survey the archetypes, the foibles, and the dramatic potential of the psychotherapist - both fictional and real.

Mark speaks with Richard Hughes, the TV producer and director turned psychotherapist, about his favourite screen therapists. And actor and writer Brett Goldstein talks about his Emmy nominated TV show, Shrinking, which features a therapist going off the rails.

Ellen speaks to Dr Orna Guralnik from the TV show Couples Therapy about what it's like conducting real therapy sessions on screen and what film and TV gets wrong about its depiction of therapy. ‘Therapy Speak’ is everywhere on social media, but it’s also present in many film and TV shows - Ellen discusses its rise with journalist Billie Walker.

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In the year that Jacques Demy’s beloved Umbrellas of Cherbourg turns 60, Mark Kermode and Ellen E Jones reflect on their favourite aspects of the screen musical.

According to some, we’re currently in the midst of a movie musicals revival, with Jon M Chu’s Wicked hot on the heels of Emila Perez and Joker: Folie à Deux, but will any of them match what Ellen considers to be the pinnacle of the form, the 1950s Hollywood musical?

Her love of the classic MGM musicals primed Ellen to be a huge fan of the TV show Crazy Ex Girlfriend when it came along. This is the musical sitcom that took all of these essential elements of the 1950s Hollywood musical, then recombined them with a very 21st Century approach to relationships and mental health. Ellen speaks with Crazy Ex Girlfriend creator and star Rachel Bloom about Disney, writing jokes for the screen, and spontaneous singing.

But it’s essential to pay proper tribute to the classics, and in particular the work of American lyricist and producer Arthur Freed. Ellen sat down with writer, filmmaker and actor Manuela Lazic to talk about Freed’s masterpiece, 1952’s Singin’ in the Rain which stars Gene Kelly, who also co-directed with Stanley Donen.

And Mark meets Janis Pugh, director of Chuck Chuck Baby, a low budget, British indie charmer set in a chicken processing factory that is deeply influenced by Jacques Demy’s 1964 French hit The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.

Janis Pugh is not alone in her love of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. It follows the story of two young lovers whose future together is interrupted by the Algerian war, with the French dialogue entirely sung and set perfectly to the music of Michel Le Grand. Writer and editor of Little White Lies, David Jenkins, is a huge fan of Jacques Demy, and he speaks with Mark about the film’s influences and legacy.

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Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or winner Anora is the latest in a long line of movies to use Las Vegas as a setting. So why is the desert gambling city such catnip for filmmakers? Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore Vegas on screen.

Ellen speaks to author Shawn Levy about the unparalleled showbiz glamour of midcentury Las Vegas and the quintessential Rat Pack Vegas movie - Ocean’s 11. And she talks to DJ and producer David Holmes about his work on the soundtrack for director Steven Soderbergh’s 2001 Ocean’s Eleven remake, starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts.

Meanwhile, Mark looks at how the dark underbelly of the gambling city has been captured on screen by filmmakers from Martin Scorsese to Paul Verhoeven, with critic Christina Newland. And he talks to Mike Figgis about directing Nicolas Cage to Oscar glory in 1995’s Leaving Las Vegas - the tale of an alcoholic who goes to the city to drink himself to death.

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