By Johnny Foreigner

I knew actress Kathy Burke mainly for her brilliant performance in the 1997 film Nil By Mouth, when she played a battered woman terrorized by her brutish husband (played with equal brilliance by actor Ray Winstone.) As comedienne, Bates also played “Magda” on  AbFab, and delivered a hilarious line in Sid and Nancy – “John got beaten up by fascists.” (wonderful!)

When I came across this great short biopic from 2010 about a young London schoolgirl (Ami Metcalf portraying a teenaged Kathy Burke) meeting her rock n’ roll hero Joe Strummer – it left me wanting to see the rest of the series. IMDB describes Little Crackers as “a series of short comedy-dramas with a Christmas theme, written by British artists recalling moments from their childhoods.”

Here’s how Kathy Burke the Writer sums up her Little Crackers “Better Than Christmas” mini biopic:

Kathy Burke turns 16 in two days and is about to leave school after sitting one final exam. Kathy’s passion is music and she dreams of being a writer for the NME where she’ll interview the likes of Paul Weller and Johnny Rotten. As Kath and her friend Mary celebrate their freedom, they’re stopped in their tracks by an almost unbelievable vision. There, in front of them, are The Clash. While an awestruck Kathy clutches her now-autographed NME, her hero, Joe Strummer, offers her some life-changing advice.