Once a Year on Blackpool Sands
- Director: Karlton Parris
- Writer: Karlton Parris
- Producer: Karlton Parris
CGiii Comment
Once a Year on Blackpool Sands, is a moving comedy-drama about the love, identity and courage of the LGBTQ community during the first walk towards Gay Pride in 1950s England. Based on the real-life events of Yorkshire coal miners and secret gay lovers, Tommy and Eddy, who spend their annual week holiday at a quirky B & B in Blackpool, along with a few other alternative members of society – the transgender Mr. Elbridge, the ex-show girl Red Ethel and the eccentric owner Gladys and her flirty daughter Maureen. The film takes us on a rollercoaster journey through the North of England to the beaches of Greece, as we follow each character’s fight for equality and freedom in an age that still deemed being gay, or “different” as a crime. Our protagonists find courage in one another's bravery and initiate the first walks towards gay pride in the UK as they walk the length of Blackpool pier, defying prejudice and abuse. As we grow to love our characters, we grow to learn that without the courage and bravery of individuals throughout history, we would not be where we are today; and although the world likes to pigeon hole into subcultures and marginalize us into repression, the LGBTQ community and anyone of a so-called “minority” in the modern world are bold, unstoppable and here to share their story.
Trailer...
Cast & Characters
Kyle Brookes as Eddy Corkhill
McCauly Cooper as Tommy Price
Dominic McCavish as James Elbridge
Linda Clark as Red Ethel
Wendy Laurence as Gladdys
Elizabeth Coombs as Alice Price
Olivia Charlotte Cole as Susan Elbridge
Molly Jones as Maureen