Curriculee Curricula

Sometimes you encounter a production that leaves you blinking in disbelief, wondering exactly how and why it ever made it to the screen. Shortly after comes a wave of genuine glee that someone, somewhere, actually made it happen.

A case in point would be the gloriously eccentric Curriculee Curricula (1978). Filmed entirely on location at the University of Birmingham, this rock-opera-meets-TV-play is a surreal, time-capsule treasure. Written by Alan Plater and featuring a prog-rock score by Dave Greenslade, the story follows Benny (played by blues legend Chris Farlowe), a plumber’s apprentice who gets hopelessly lost in the labyrinthine ivory towers of academia while trying to find a misplaced set of spanners.

Part satirical comedy, part psychedelic musical, and featuring appearances from Sonja Kristina and Magnus Magnusson, it’s a beautifully weird exploration of class and intellect.

With its experimental video-box trickery and a plot that involves a shuttlecock duel and a mistaken-identity lecture, it’s exactly the kind of unclassifiable archive gem we just can’t resist.