Walter (TV movie)

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Walter is a television drama that was first broadcast on the launch night of Channel 4 on 2 November 1982.

Directed by Stephen Frears and starring Ian McKellen as Walter, a mentally handicapped man who we see what happens to when his parents die.

The Evening Standard reported at the time "Channel 4 is taking the extraordinary step of launching itself with one of the most shocking films about mental illness ever shown on British TV. Walter, which occupies the key slot in next Tuesday's opening night schedule, features scenes of homosexual molestation in a mental hospital, patients covered in excrement, and a suicide in a barber's shop."

McKellen later won The Royal Television Society Performer of The Year for his performance in the film.

It was the first ever Film on Four.