Directed by Stephen Frears, Judy Dench stars as the aging Queen Victoria to Ali Fazal’s Abdul Kareem, the Muslim clerk who, sent to deliver a gift to the Queen, stayed to become her friend, teacher and confident. Devoted to her until the day she died, he opened her to some knowledge of India and allowed her to ‘come alive’ again. It’s not a great or even very good film, but it is interesting and Dench and Fazal play remarkably well together. Judy Dench could read the phone book (if only there were still phone books!) and make it come alive. Excellent work from Adeel Akhtar as Mohommad, the anti-imperialis, anti-Brit Indian forced to accompany Kareem to England and, then, to become his servant and remain in dreary, cold, racist England until he died. Eddie Izzard as the Prince of Wales does a really lovely job with a very unpleasant but multi-layered character.