Christopher Tookey (born 9 April 1950) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

film critic Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, magazines and other popular mass-media outl ...

. He has written for both ''

The Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', kn ...

'' and the '' Daily Mail''. He has presented the Radio 4 programmes ''

The Film Programme ''The Film Programme'' was a British film review radio programme, broadcast weekly on BBC Radio 4, from 2004 to 2021, presented by Francine Stock. The programme had a number of regular contributors, including Neil Brand and Rosemary Fletcher. ...

'' and ''Back Row''. In 2013, he won the award as "Arts Reviewer of the Year" from the London Press Club. At

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

he was president of the

Oxford Union The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford England, whose membership is drawn primarily from the University of Oxford. Founded in 1823, it is one of Britain's oldest ...

, Editor of Isis, President of the Etceteras and Musical Director of Oxford Theatre Group. Tookey was elected chairman of

The Critics' Circle The Critics' Circle is the national professional body of British critics for dance, drama, film, music, books and visual arts. It was established in 1913 as a successor to the Society of Dramatic Critics, which was formed in 1906 but had become ...

in 1995, but his bid to become vice-president floundered due to the position he took on the 1996 film ''

Crash Crash or CRASH may refer to: Common meanings * Collision, an impact between two or more objects * Crash (computing), a condition where a program ceases to respond * Cardiac arrest, a medical condition in which the heart stops beating * Couch su ...

''. Tookey campaigned for the film to be banned, writing that "Crash is the point at which even a liberal society should draw the line." ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'' film critic Philip French wrote that Tookey's "campaigning was thought to be in breach of the Critics' Circle's objects of promoting the art of criticism and supporting the advancement of the arts." Tookey wrote a series of critical articles for the ''Mail'' regarding the film which saw Jonathan Coe of the ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British Political magazine, political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney Webb, Sidney and Beatrice ...

'' describe him as "the real architect of the antiCrash campaign". Tookey called for readers to boycott the products of distributor

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...

, and questioned the suitability to the role of the then director of the

British Board of Film Classification The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC, previously the British Board of Film Censors) is a non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of f ...

. Tookey denied charges that he was in favour of blanket censorship, writing in a letter to ''The Guardian'' that he has "frequently written and spoken against censorship and jumped to the defence of films (such as ''

Pulp Fiction ''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, who conceived it with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; Starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Vin ...

'', ''

Reservoir Dogs ''Reservoir Dogs'' is a 1992 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino in his feature-length debut. It stars Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi, Lawrence Tierney, Michael Madsen, Tarantino, and Edward B ...

'' and ''

The Life Of Brian ''Monty Python's Life of Brian'' (also known as ''Life of Brian'') is a 1979 British comedy film starring and written by the comedy group Monty Python (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin). It wa ...

'') which struck me as victims of unjust repression in the past." He wrote in an article for '' Prospect'' magazine that his campaign against ''Crash'' was motivated by the fear that "Cronenberg's film might well have a "copycat effect" on a few unstable individuals" and could "also have a far more insidious longterm effect by eroticising

sado-masochism Sadomasochism ( ) is the giving and receiving of pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain or humiliation. Practitioners of sadomasochism may seek sexual pleasure from their acts. While the terms sadist and masochist refer ...

and orthopaedic

fetishism A fetish (derived from the French , which comes from the Portuguese , and this in turn from Latin , 'artificial' and , 'to make') is an object believed to have supernatural powers, or in particular, a human-made object that has power over ot ...

for people previously unaware of being turned on by acts of mutilation." Tookey was also concerned at the precedent set by releasing such a film with an 18 certificate. In 2000 Tookey directed and co-produced the musical ''Hard Times'', based on the

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

novel of the same name, which opened to mixed reviews at the

Theatre Royal, Haymarket The Theatre Royal Haymarket (also known as Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre) is a West End theatre on Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use. Samuel Foot ...

and closed the same year.> Tookey also witnessed a man bleed to death from a stabbing in 1997, and his reaction troubled him: "It has brought home to me that I have seen so much violence on screen (the latest film is ''Crash'') that I have become desensitised. Talking with the others on the street, I was noticeably less affected by the sight of this guy bleeding to death. After the killing, a number of people had nightmares. Shouldn't I have? It was my lack of reaction that was so chilling." In August 2013 the Daily Mail decided not to renew Tookey's contract which expired on 1 December 2013.

Publications

* ''The Critics' Film Guide'' (Boxtree, 1994) * ''Named And Shamed'' (Matador, 2010) * ''Tookey's Turkeys'' (Matador, 2015) * ''Tookey's Talkies'' (Matador, 2015)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tookey, Christopher Living people 1950 births Place of birth missing (living people) British film critics Alumni of the University of Oxford Presidents of the Oxford Union