Following an acclaimed career in TV drama (much of which was made available in last year’s BFI box set release, Dissent and Disruption: Alan Clarke at the BBC 1969-1989), director Alan Clarke achieved a box-office hit with the much loved raunchy comedy Rita, Sue and Bob Too.

Adapted by Andrea Dunbar from her own play, based on her upbringing on Bradford’s Buttershaw estate, Rita, Sue and Bob Too contrasts bawdy laughs with astute social commentary.

Bradford teenagers Rita (Siobhan Finneran) and Sue (Michelle Holmes) regularly babysit for Bob (George Costigan) and Michelle (Lesley Sharp), whose comfortable suburban lifestyle contrasts with the girls’ bleak life on a council estate. One evening when Bob is taking them home, he smooth-talks the girls into a three-way sexual relationship. At first it is all a bit of fun, but tempers flare once the affair is out in the open.

30 years on and newly restored by the BFI, the film is released on Blu-ray for the first time in a Dual Format Edition on 22 May 2017. Extras include a newly filmed documentary, Having a Ball: The Making of Rita, Sue and Bob Too, with extensive cast and crew interviews.

30th Anniversary Screening + Q&A at BFI Southbank, Mon 15 May
This new BFI release of what has proved to be one of the most memorable and enduring British films of its era, will be celebrated by a 30th Anniversary Screening + Q&A with producer Sandy Lieberson and actors Michelle Holmes, George Costigan and Kulvinder Ghir on Monday 15 May at 6.15pm in NFT1. Tickets are on sale now: www.bfi.org.uk/whatson

Rita, Sue and Bob Too will be released as a dual format edition (Blu-ray and DVD) by the BFI on 22 May 2017 at the RRP of £19.99.

Dual format features:

• New 2K restoration by the BFI from the original Super 16mm camera negative
• Presented in High Definition and Standard Definition
• Having A Ball: The Making of Rita, Sue and Bob Too (Jon Robertson, 2017, 69 mins): a newly filmed documentary with extensive cast and crew interviews
• Textless opening sequence
• Stills and Collections Gallery
• Theatrical trailer
• 36-page illustrated booklet with writing by David Rolinson, Andrea Dunbar and Max Stafford-Clark, and full film credits

And here's the long thought lost original trailer: