Withnail and I is a British film made in 1986 by Handmade Films. Written and directed by Bruce Robinson, it is based on his life in London in the late 1960's. Withnail was Richard E. Grant's first film role and launched him into a successful career. The film featured performances by Richard Griffiths as Withnail's Uncle Monty, Paul McGann as "I" and Ralph Brown as Danny the drug dealer. The film has tragic and comic elements (particularly farce), and is notable for its period music and many quotable lines.

London 1969 - two 'resting' (unemployed and unemployable) actors, Withnail and Marwood, fed up with damp, cold, piles of washing-up, mad drug dealers and psychotic Irishmen, decide to leave their squalid Camden flat for an idyllic holiday in the countryside, courtesy of Withnail's uncle Monty's country cottage. But when they get there, it rains non-stop, there's no food, and their basic survival skills turn out to be somewhat limited. Matters are not helped by the arrival of Uncle Monty, who shows an uncomfortably keen interest in Marwood... Written by Michael Brooke

London: The Sixties. Two down-on-their-luck actors (Withnail and Marwood) find solace in drink and other substances. Seeking respite from their uneventful lives they escape up north to Penrith to Withnail's uncle's stone cottage. Faced with no modern conveniences, a bunch of oddball locals, and a surprise visit from an amorous "Uncle Monty", their wits are tested, along with their friendship. Written by Kathleen Mortensen