Clockwise

1986, 96 minutes

An extremely punctual headmaster on his way to a prestigious school convention misses his train. Henceforth, he finds himself in the midst of chaos, surrounded by a pair of difficult women and corps of elderly ladies. But he's determined, against all odds

The film centres on Brian Stimpson (played by Cleese), the successful but obsessive headmaster of Thomas Tompion Comprehensive School. Having been habitually late and disorganised as a young man, he has grown up to become famously punctual, and his school runs 'like clockwork'. On the way to a Headmasters' Conference (to which he has been elected, for his school is a state school and the HMC is a trade association for fee-paying public schools) at which he is a speaker many misfortunes befall him and his ordered world begins to unwind in a way reminiscent of Greek tragedy. A Morris 1100 car, similar to the Austin 1300 beaten with a stick by Cleese in Fawlty Towers episode 'Gourmet Night', plays a key role in the plot of this film. Michael Frayn's screenplay has a different opening, involving illuminated digits on a clock radio, Cleese waking up when the alarm goes off and Cleese seen naked and wet in the shower ("a sight few of us expected to see in our lifetime"). For his performance in the film, Cleese won the 1987 Peter Sellers Award For Comedy at the Evening Standard British Film Awards.

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