The Man with the Plan

The Man with the Plan (2026)

A student goes on a fantastical journey inspired by the words of social economist William Beveridge in his eponymous 1942 report. The film is currently screening in London: https://www.sandsfilms.co.uk/the-man-with-the-plan.html and will screen across the country from September 2026

Date of release
2026-04-17
Runtime
1h 45m
Genres
Drama
Director
Christine Edzard

Casting

Interesting facts

The Man with the Plan released on 17 April 2026 is an independent film directed by Christine Edzard and produced by Olivier Stockman at Sands Films Studios in London. It tells the story of a young woman of today who discovers the 1942 Beveridge Report by the British politician William Beveridge, which formed the basis of Britain's welfare state. The film features Simon Callow and Mark Thomas. The music is by Michael Sanvoisin and cinematography by Joachim Bergamin.

Production

Filming began in October 2024 for The Man with the Plan which will star Simon Callow as William Beveridge and comedian Mark Thomas as the Narrator. Comedian Hal Cruttenden will appear as Winston Churchill and Andrew Tiernan as Nye Bevan, with newcomer Sophie Jenkin starring as the young woman of today who discovers the plan and its vision for the future.

On 12 and 13 April 2025, Sands Films held a filmed public event at their studios in Rotherhithe and invited political campaigners and activists to speak about their campaigns and issues in relation to the "giants" of Beveridge's report – squalor, idleness, ignorance, disease and poverty. Mark Thomas hosted the event and speakers included Danny Dorling, Kate Pickett, and Michael Marmot.

Sands Films, the production company who made the film, is run by Christine Edzard, the screenwriter and director, and her husband Richard B. Goodwin.

The film is the eleventh by Edzard, known for her meticulous filmmaking, often based on Victorian English sources. Other productions include Stories from a Flying Trunk (1979), Biddy (1983), Little Dorrit (1987), The Fool (1989), As You Like It (1991), The Children's Midsummer Night's Dream (2001), The Good Soldier Schwejk (2018).

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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