![The Lady In The Van. Image shows from L to R: Miss Shepherd (Maggie Smith), Alan Bennett (Alex Jennings). Copyright: BBC Films The Lady In The Van. Image shows from L to R: Miss Shepherd (Maggie Smith), Alan Bennett (Alex Jennings). Copyright: BBC Films](https://cdn.comedy.co.uk/images/library/comedies/300x200/t/the_lady_in_the_van.jpg)
The Lady In The Van
- 2015 film
The Lady In The Van is a drama based on real events, about a vagrant who the playwright Alan Bennett allowed to park her van in his driveway, where she lived for fifteen years. Also features Maggie Smith, Alex Jennings, Jim Broadbent, Frances de la Tour, Roger Allam and more.
Press clippings
Maggie Smith is a marvel as Miss Shepherd, the eccentric elderly woman who parked her campervan in Alan Bennett's drive for a few weeks, and stayed for 15 years. Alex Jennings is a joy as Bennett, but this is Smith's film: her comically cantankerous exterior masking an inner sadness. There's fun, too, in the neighbours' perplexed reactions to her mucky presence. This small but big-hearted comic drama is a great alternative to the talking animations and blockbusters that fill the festive TV schedule.
Paul Howlett, The Guardian, 24th December 2016