Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush

As always with these BFI re-releases, the picture and sound quality is superb (there’s a choice of High and Standard Definition) and the extras are pretty impressive.

Because That Road Is Trodden is a 1969 black-and-white short by Tim King, following a day in the thoughts of a public schoolboy. It shares themes of sexual liberation and escape with the main feature and has several arresting images, though you may tire of the protagonist’s feyly pretentious why-don’t-nice-girls-like-me voiceover.

Stevenage is a portrait of the new town and its history, straight from the stiff-yet-hip school of documentary filmmaking that Monty Python had so much fun sending up, yet boasting some quirky jump cuts.

A commentary, or retrospective doc, interviewing some of the participants 40 years on, would have been interesting, but BFI don’t seem too interested in that sort of stuff. However, a very extensive booklet offering insightful essays and a wealth of trivia - did you know that Ingmar Bergman’s daughter was in Mind Your Language? - makes amends and Blu-Ray options, including an alternative censored version round off a stylish package.

Sadly, no room for a CD of the Traffic/Spencer Davis Group soundtrack. It’s down to the nearest rare record emporium with enough cash to keep Jamie and his mates chasing birds for a week if you want to really immerse yourself in the Mulberry Bush experience