Undertaking Betty

A small Welsh town is home to two competing funeral parlours, and to Betty Rhys-Jones, the unhappy wife of the mayor. Boris Plots, who has run his family's undertaker business since his youthful hopes of becoming a dancer faded, has been in love with Betty since they were young; she married Hugh Rhys-Jones instead. When Betty's mother-in-law dies, the funeral brings the two together again, and they begin to plan a staged death so that Betty can leave her marriage behind. Their scheme unfolds against a rivalry with Frank Featherbed, an American newcomer to the trade who intends to shake up local funerals with themed ceremonies.

Nick Hurran directed the film, his first feature, from a screenplay by Fred Ponzlov. Brenda Blethyn and Alfred Molina star, with Naomi Watts, Lee Evans, Robert Pugh and Christopher Walken among a credited cast of thirty. Shot on a budget of about 8 million dollars, it returned roughly 2 million worldwide. On TMDB it holds a rating of 6.1 from 117 votes. Hurran's later features were Little Black Book, It's a Boy Girl Thing and the television film Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor.