Toast
- Director: S.J. Clarkson
- Writer: Lee Hall; Nigel Slater
- Producer: Carl Clifton; Hannah Farrell
CGiii Comment
Delicate and beautiful.
There are some moments that will make you gasp.
Jackson does a fine job - a few quibbles, the jump cuts are totally out-of-place and are, basically, lazy.
And...a firmer resolution would have made this heart-stoppingly brilliant.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
Wolverhampton,1967: nine year old Nigel Slater loves his mother though she is a hopeless cook, her finest offering being toast whilst he has great culinary aspirations. When she dies of asthma Nigel is left with a distant father but worse is to come when the 'common' Mrs. Joan Potter arrives as the Slaters' cleaner. Nigel fears, rightly, that her aim is to be the next Mrs. Slater and soon he has a new stepmother and is whisked away to the country. Joan is, however, a superb cook but this only makes for rivalry as Nigel, the only boy in his cookery class at secondary school, competes with her to find the way to his father's heart. A weekend job in a pub kitchen introduces Nigel to an older boy, another great cook and gay like himself, who gives him the confidence and inspiration to leave home after his father's death and head for the hotel kitchens of London.
Cast & Characters
Freddie Highmore as Nigel Slater;
Victoria Hamilton as Mum;
Colin Prockter as Percy Salt;
Ken Stott as Dad;
Oscar Kennedy as Young Nigel Slater;
Matthew McNulty as Josh;
Frasier Huckle as Warrel;
Kia Pegg as Milk Girl;
Rielly Newbold as Leonard;
Roger Walker as Gardener