Heavens Above!

1963

Directed By

John & Roy Boulting

Synopsis

The inimitable Peter Sellers stars as John Smallwood, an idealistic Reverend appointed to the parish of an upper-class village by mistake. With a bad habit of telling the truth at all times, Smallwood makes several clerical decisions that shock his wealthy, landed-gentry parishioners. Inspired by an idea by British satirist Malcolm Muggeridge, the Boulting brothers’ Heavens Above! was considered a bit too sacrilegious for general consumption on its 1963 release. 

Way ahead of its time, the film, featuring Sellers at his most iconoclastic, has since accrued a loyal and vocal following. Superb supporting cast includes Eric Sykes, Irene Handl, William Hartnell and Joan Hickson.

Cast
Peter Sellers, Cecil Parker, Isabel Jeans, Eric Sykes, Bernard Miles, Ian Carmichael, Irene Handl, Brock Peters, Miriam Karlin, Joan Miller
Release Date
4 August 2025
extras
  • New Sellers Takes Off in Heavens Above! – A look at the production of Heavens Above! featuring interviews with Peter Lydon, director of BBC Arena’s The Peter Sellers Story and the BFI’s Vic Pratt, co-author of The Bodies Beneath: The Flipside of British Film and Television
  • New Heavens Above! A Q&A with Daily Mash’s Tom Whitley, Eva Griffith and Benedict Morrison – filmed at the LOCO London Comedy Film Festival in 2025
  • New Heavens Above! The Mask Behind the Mask– Featuring interview footage with Roy Boulting, Ian Carmichael and Sidney Gilliat originally shot for Seller’s Best (1992, dir Paul Joyce) a 60-minute documentary on the early film career of Peter Sellers, broadcast on Channel Four
  • Audio Commentary by Authors and Comedy Historians Gemma Ross and Robert Ross
  • Lobby Cards Gallery

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