New releases to celebrate his 100th birthday

Two classic Peter Sellers comedies are to be released on Blu-ray to mark what would have been his 100th birthday. And we have six discs to give away.

Studiocanal is next week releasing the 1960 crime caper Two Way Stretch – co-starring  Bernard Cribbins  and Lionel Jeffries  – and 1963’s Heaven’s Above!,  a social satire about an honest priest whose kindness disrupts an upmarket English village.

They come ahead of what would have been the Pink Panther star’s centenary on September 8 – while the BFI Southbank in London is also staging a major season of Sellers films next month.

One Chortle reader will receive both Blu-rays, with four runners-up receiving one.

To stand a chance of winning, just answer the following question by 5pm on August 20, when we will select the winners at random from all the correct answers received. Usual terms and conditions apply.

Good luck!

The films’ descriptions are as follows:

TWO-WAY STRETCH: Constantly taking advantage of the prison governor’s liberal methods towards authority, convict, and criminal mastermind Dodger Lane (Sellers) decides to commit the ultimate crime with the ultimate alibi. Along with a misfit crew of fellow inmates he plans to escape from prison, steal a priceless cache of diamonds and then return to his cell before anyone notices. Who said genius was easy?

HEAVENS ABOVE: The inimitable Peter Sellers stars as John Smallwood, an idealistic Reverend appointed to the parish of an upper-class village by mistake. With a bad habit of telling the truth at all times, Smallwood makes several clerical decisions that shock his wealthy, landed-gentry parishioners. Inspired by an idea by British satirist Malcolm Muggeridge, the Boulting brothers’ Heavens Above!  was considered a bit too sacrilegious for general consumption on its 1963 release. Way ahead of its time, the film, featuring Sellers at his most iconoclastic, has since accrued a loyal and vocal following. Superb supporting cast includes Eric Sykes, Irene Handl, William Hartnell and Joan Hickson.

Both discs feature behind-the-scenes extras about the making of the film, plus audio commentary by comedy historians Gemma and Robert Ross

Published: 29 Jul 2025