• Jon Pertwee (Doctor Who)
• Bill Pertwee (Dad's Army)
• Michael Pertwee

Just when I thought I'd seen it all, along comes something like Blue Juice—an artsy British surfing film that's also some kind of sly retelling of the New Testament. Go figure.

Cornwall surfer JC (Sean Pertwee) is alleged to have once ridden a 12-foot wave over the Boneyard—a large coral deposit whose dangers are as lethal as its breakers are spectacular. JC is going through an aging crisis: He's approaching 30—though, frankly, Pertwee doesn't look a day under 40—and his body is beginning to rebel against his lifestyle.

But he still has dreams of adventure: He intends to travel around the world with his dazzling girlfriend, Chloe (Catherine Zeta Jones), surfing the best beaches while he still can. For her part, Chloe is getting fed up with his protracted adolescence; his need to be the big man on the beach barely leaves time for their relationship.

One day, three of his old high-school buddies show up from London. Famous record producer Josh (Steven Mackintosh) and irresponsible drug dealer Dean (Trainspotting's Ewan McGregor) have drugged and kidnapped barkeep Terry (Peter Gunn, who looks exactly like a young Robbie Coltrane) to save him from settling down into a dull marriage.

As JC goes through his identity crisis, the other three must also experience self-discovery and transformation. Dean slips Terry a dose of the drug Blue Juice, which releases all his inhibitions, sets him off on a quest to impress a former TV star (Jenny Agutter), and mystically turns him into the Silver Surfer. Josh is confronted by young DJ (Colette Brown), who tries to reawaken his respect for the old soul records he now cannibalizes into wretched techno-pop. And Dean must confront what a total jerk he is.

Most of the story takes place during two days of hallucinatory magical realism. The style and the subject make an interesting fit, but the film dulls its own effect by trying too hard. There are too many back-and-forth plot developments, particularly regarding JC and Chloe's affair. And the soul-music subplot is way too heavy-handed; magic on the screen is too fragile a mode to withstand such pretension. The dance-hall scene, where Josh regains his so-called "soul," is horribly staged. Mackintosh dances so poorly that at first you suspect he's discovering he's lost it forever. Most of these free-spirited soul-music fans have the slick, funky moves of M.I.T. freshmen.

With all its faults, Blue Juice is still diverting, in no small measure thanks to the gorgeous Cornish scenery. Almost every shot is breathtaking.

And the Jesus parallels? Well, JC—ahem!—is a respected and charismatic figure on the beach. (There is one mentor above him, a mystical older man, filled with wisdom but no special powers—i.e., John the Surfer.) He is famous for a miraculous trip over the surface of the water. His weasel "friend" Dean betrays him for money by identifying him to the media people. During his crisis of faith, he spends a lot of time wandering around the wilderness, fending off various temptations. Near the end, he has a metaphorical rebirth, disappearing beneath the waves, only to reemerge a new man.

I could go on, spinning this kind of argument, which I would consider an amusingly silly overinterpretation—if only they hadn't named the protagonist JC. As soon as the filmmakers chose that name, they gave up any claims that the parallels were accidental.

1994-1996 10 eps
ITV 90 min.
A Central Production for ITV
Produced by Stephen Smallwood
Based on the "Brother Cadfael" novels and characters created by Ellis Peters ( aka Edith Pargeter )

regular cast:
Sir Derek Jacobi as Brother Cadfael
Sean Pertwee as Hugh Beringar [ 1 ]
Michael Culver as Prior Robert
Peter Copley as Abbot Herribert
Julian Firth as Brother Jerome
Mark Charnock as Brother Oswin

1st series ( First dates are US broadcast on MYSTERY!, second set are the UK dates )

001. "The Leper of St. Giles" 1/12/82 6/12/94
Tara Fitzgerald [ as Iveta ], Susan Fleetwood [ as Agnes ], Norman Eshley [ as Baron Eshley ], Sarah Badel [ as Avice ] John Bennett [ as Lazarus ], Jonathan Firth [ as Joscelin ], Jamie Glover [ as Simon ], Jonathn Hyde [ as Godfrid ]

adapted by Paul Pender
directed by Graham Theakston

The Abbey bustles with preparations for the wedding of the powerful Baron Huon to a beautiful young woman, but on the eve of the momentous day, the Baron rides off alone and disappears, a situation bound to intrigue the ever-curious Cadfael.

002. "Monk's Hood" 1/19/95 6/19/94
Terrence Hardman [ as Abbot Radulfus ], Sophie Lawrence [ Aldith ], Mary Miller [ as Richaldis ], Bernard Gallagher [ as Gervase ], Huw Garmon [ as Neurig ], Jonny Lee Miller [ as Edwin Gurney ], Saley Baxter [ as Sibil Bellecote ], Greg Saunders [ as Tom Bellecote ], Steven Beard [ as Brother Anselm ], Freddie Boardley [ as Brother Petrus ]

adapted by Russell Lewis
directed by Graham Theakston

Cadfael is asked, as an expert in poisons, to help investigate the death of a wealthy landowner who has changed his will, and discovers that the dead man's widow was once Cadfael's childhood sweetheart.

003. "The Sanctuary Sparrow" 1/26/82 6/5/94
Roy Barraclough [ as Walter Aurifaber ], Rosalie Crutchley [ as Juliana ], Fiona Gillies [ as Susanna ], Richard Bonneville [ as Daniel ], Steven Beard [ as Brother Anselm ], Patrick Brennan [ John Boneth ], Maria Miles [ Margery ]

adapted by Russell Lewis
directed by Graham Theakston

Brother Cadfael finds himself in charge of a juggler seeking sanctuary in Shrewsbury Abbey after he's accused of murdering a goldsmith.

004. "One Corpse Too Many" 2/2/95 5/29/94
Christian Burgess [ as Adam Courcelle ], Michael Grandage [ as King Stephen ], Richard Henders [ as Torold Blund ], Juliette Caton [ Godlith/Godrick ], Jeremy Young [ as Arnulf of Hewlith ], David Garfield [ as Sergeant Rhys ], Maggie O'Neill [ as Aline Siward ], Geoffrey Leesley [ as Sheriff Prestcote ], Bill Neville [ as Nicholas Faintree ], Nigel Hastings [ as Giles Siward ], Robert Oates [ as Edric Flescher ], Marlene Sidaway [ as Flescher's wife ], Michael Cadman [ as Fitzalan ], Sandor Teri [ as Adeney ]

adapted by Paul Pender
directed by Graham Theakston

Brother Cadfael's task of burying rebel soldiers following a skirmish reveals one corpse that doesn't belong there, and ignites an inquiry into how it came to be there.