This couldn't be better - witness Denholm - Never Less - Than - Brilliant - Elliott at his usual best as a super top quality English boozer on a mission to get sober and sort his daughter's problems simultaneously - also Hugo Weaving as the best oily lawyer you'd want on your case and Nicole when she was an actress rather than a superstar or Mrs Tom Cruise or former Mrs Tom Cruise. When cute, asthmatic and incredibly wealthy Kat Stanton (Kidman) journeys to London on a genealogical quest she never imagines that the charming young man who beds her(Jerome Ehlers)will tuck several kilos of best quality heroin in the camera case he so kindly bought her. Needless to say it's discovered by an exceptionally clever airport dog with a penchant for class A drugs, and Ms Kidman is soon having a cosy chat with two rather grumpy policemen. This is where her troubles begin ....... she's in Thailand - where dope pushers face a mandatory death sentence - administered by a handsome young gent with a machine gun ! This film's got everything – including (like in Eastenders) a comedy ethnic postman. Purchase, watch, enjoy!

If you're an Aussie you will be well-aware of the recent Bali-based drug cases involving Schapelle Corby and the "Bali 9". The latter are clearly guilty and will pay for their crimes, many will say justifiably.Schapelle Corby's case is another matter altogether with opinion as to her guilt or otherwise being divided. Her case is very similar to Kidman's in that the drugs are alleged to be someone else's.If anyone saw Corby's reaction to her conviction on TV last November it is identical to Kidman's in the BH with shortness of breath, deep breathing, shocked look. The resemblance is uncanny: life imitates art which imitates life.Acting in the BH is superb all round. The story is well-written and harrowing, especially given those recent events. One can accept the Asian countries' reasons for their tough stance against drugs but emotions and sympathy for those jailed are stirred in the BH.It's amazing that this miniseries was made 20 years ago as it could have happened yesterday. Indeed the only differences are that the barbaric firing squad was replaced by more humane lethal injection (just 3 years ago) and that actors such as Kidman and Weaving have moved on to even greater acclaim and Elliott has unfortunately passed on.... and the callous Ehlers has left an indelible impression, typecast for life by me at least.

I have just had the luck to see this TV mini again recently. The second viewing just reinforced my impressions from my first viewing a few years ago.This is Nicole Kidman playing an extraordinary rôle in a great film, before she became another one for the Hollywood heap. Since this film, I have only ever seen her in two better rôles: "The Portrait of a Lady" (qv) and Robert Daldry's astounding masterpiece "The Hours" (qv).A two-part mini of 90 minutes each, I had to watch the whole three hours in one go: but was not at all tired on either experience. "Bangkok Hilton" does not mess about with unnecessary details, but gets you right into the story from the beginning, especially in the second half which includes those tremendous prison scenes in Thailand's capital, from whence logically the film's title.Yes, one of Nicole Kidman's earlier works, but one in which you know she was on the road to great things. A few stupidities got in the way - like "Moulin Rouge!" (qv) - but even so, one can now see where she did her spade-work, and "Bangkok Hilton" is one of the best examples.

It was well past midnight, I had a hell of a cold, and I didn't even see it starting. The scene I first saw was Nicole on the beach in Goa, minutes before the photographer joins her. Three hours later I just couldn't let it go, although I happened to turn on the VCR half way through just in case. It is unexpectedly good, gripping story, wonderful acting, unpretentious...Nicole is simply astounding, you are not ready for her pre-Tom, pre-plastic accurate performance. Pure bravura. And the Weaving guy? You just see him elfin and distant, human and committed, without even trying such thing as a flirtation with otherwise easy prey Kidman. Denholm is as always, solid, lovable, tender...The court and jail scenes seem realistic, some times even bureaucratic, while still retaining the horror of a fate which so many times is beyond our control. It makes you introspect what would happen if... I found it amazing that I had not the slightest idea about this series, not because I'm Leslie Helliwell's reviewer or something, but because it has been so badly overlooked...I agree that it deserves a rerunning and a DVD edition in full splendour (the copy I saw was not perfect). A 8/10 is the least it deserves.