The Box is a major cultural and heritage attraction and archive, which opened in Plymouth’s city centre in September 2020. Its collection, formally the South West Film and Television Archive (SWFTA), is the regional film archive for the South West of England, comprising the combined programme libraries of Westward Television and Television South West (TSW). It also includes a significant number of donated film collections dating back to the early 1890s.
This film is part of Free
Exotic Pet Shop
A shop owner in Truro sells unusual pets.
In partnership with:
Overview
Paul Roberts is a pet shop owner in Truro and sells some very unusual animals including Flower, an American skunk, crocodiles from the Nile and alligators from Borneo, which are kept in a pool at the back of the pet store. John Doyle puts on a brave face as he gets up close and personal with some of the shop’ s incredible beasts but where does Paul find them?
According to campaigns by the RSPCA who pick up many unwanted pets, for every exotic pet brought into the country, more than half of their cohort would have died in transit and efforts to curb the exotic pet trade are ongoing. Under the 1976 Dangerous and Wild Animals Act authorities grant licences fr animals if they are not contrary to the public interest in a Peter Sellars-type Does Your Dog bite? scenario (from the film The Pink Panther Strikes Again 1976). In the sixties and seventies exotic pet-keeping was the height of fashion and wholly unregulated. As for the reporter in the reptilian den, just don’t try this at home, and certainly not without medical or even life insurance.
Related
Watch for free
Scenes on the Cornish Riviera Scenes on the Cornish Riviera
Advert 1912 19 mins Silent Location: Plymouth
From Saltash to St Ives, a whirlwind tour of Edwardian Cornwall.
Watch for free
Compton Castle of Truro Compton Castle of Truro
News 1982 3 mins Location: Compton Castle
The old paddle steamer still has legs.
Watch for free
Burn Your Bra! Burn Your Bra!
Current affairs 1968 2 mins Location: Truro
The Women’s Liberation movement’s burn your bra campaign hits Truro.
Watch for free
Truro Carnival Week Truro Carnival Week
Current affairs 1932 4 mins Silent Location: Truro
Trurorians enjoy street carnival celebrations
Watch for free
Carlyon Farm Carlyon Farm
Current affairs 1965 6 mins Location: Truro
Clive Gunnell reports from Carlyon Farm
Watch for free
Truro to Falmouth on the Maritime Line Truro to Falmouth on the Maritime Line
Current affairs 1976 8 mins Location: Truro
Journey on the Great Scenic Railway from Truro to Falmouth
Watch for free
China O'Brien: The Reunion China O'Brien: The Reunion
Documentary 2024 60 mins
Cynthia Rothrock, Richard Norton and Keith Cooke reunite three decades on from the groundbreaking martial arts classic.
Watch for free
Women in Action Panel Discussion Women in Action Panel Discussion
Inside Film 2024 28 mins
Action Xtreme - the UK's leading action film studio - hosts this panel discussion with four leading women in action cinema - Soo Cole, Jo Rolison, Jadey Duffield and Ioanna Karavela.
Watch for free
Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 24 mins
Daniel Kokotajlo talks to Nia Childs about Starve Acre, his folk horror about a couple digging deep into grief in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales.
Watch for free
Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 30 mins
Sky Peals director Moin Hussain and lead actor Faraz Ayub talk to Tomisin Adepeju about their magic realist drama.
Watch for free
Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell
Documentary 2024 42 mins
Documentary exploring the BFI National Archive’s role in rediscovering and remastering the early films of Michael Powell.
Watch for free
Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels
Short documentary 2024 12 mins
Bryony Dixon, curator of silent film at the BFI national archive, explores the origins of a series of comic travelogues, and Michael Powell's involvement in making them.