Join screenwriter Stuart Wright as he dives into movies that changed your life with screenwriter Philip Ralph, in this engaging episode of 3 Films That Have Impacted Everything In Your Adult Life. Explore Barton Fink impact, Big Night analysis, and Bloody Sunday influence on his personal growth and cinema’s transformative power. Philip Ralph also discusses the ongoing, rolling paradigm shift/crisis in the TV industry (and film industry too), the impact on working class people entering/staying in the TV industry and what the TV industry could be doing to make things better.

Movies That Changed Your Life

Find out about the ongoing, rolling paradigm shift/crisis in the TV industry and the lasting impact of cinema with Stuart Wright on his movie podcast.

[2:00] What do you mean by rolling paradigm shift/crisis in the TV industry?

[8:40] Philip’s open tweet to the industry goes viral

[12:00] The political argument for the cultural importance of public service broadcasting to the wider successes in UK TV (and film)

[15:00] UK TV has to be affordable to be sustainable and costs are rocketing.

[17:00] What are the opportunities to improve the UK TV industry? We need to go back to basics. You need to invest in the future of the industry. More low budget shows?

[21:00] Channel 5 resurrection of Play For Today

[23:40] We need a bit of punk ethos

[31:00] The pressure that every show has to sell around world stifles innovation/narrows the window of opportunity.

[34:00] 3 Films That Have Impacted Everything In Your Adult Life

Barton Fink impact

[34:45] Philip Ralph saw Barton Fink at the now defunct Lumiere Cinema when he was studying at RADA. It really stayed with him and has become something incredibly important to his life.

Big Night analysis

[42:00] Philip Ralph says Big Night is his favourite film of all time. He could’ve done a whole podcast on Big Night he loves it so much. For Philip, Big Night is the perfect evocation of art versus commerce.

Bloody Sunday Influence

[48:40] Philip Ralph says that Bloody Sunday, over and above the execution of it, demonstrates Paul Greengrass’s unique ability to take you into the minutiae of a day like that and never dehumanises anybody, even the people who end up doing appalling things. The power of it as a piece of documentary drama, it inspired a whole strand of Philip’s writing life.

Key Take Aways:

- Discover how movies that changed your life shape personal and professional growth.

• Learn about the ongoing, rolling paradigm shift/crisis in the TV industry (and film industry)
• What the we and the TV industry could be doing to make things better
• Understand the impact on working class people
• Understand cinema’s transformative power through Barton Fink (1991), Big Night (1996), Bloody Sunday (2002)

About the Guest:

Philip Ralph is a a multi-award-winning writer for screen and stage. Find him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/philip-ralph-1258a7260/

Philip's keynote speech on class in the UK TV industry given at Leeds University’s Media department in Ocftober 2025 - COMMON PEOPLE: Reclaiming The Narrative On Class in TV at a Time of Crisis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_66i8f815oA

Play for Today: The revival hoping to save British TV from a class crisis https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/play-for-today-channel-5-b2863772.html?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1763018711

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Credits:

Intro/Outro music: *Rocking The Stew* by Tokyo Dragons (https://www.instagram.com/slomaxster/)

Written, produced, and hosted by Stuart Wright for [Britflicks.com](https://www.britflicks.com/britflicks-podcast/)

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