"Extraordinary" British drama with Line of Duty star is now streaming for free

A classic British film starring one of Britain's top actors, who is soon to be seen in a major upcoming project, is currently streaming for free in the UK.

Released in 1996, Carla's Song is directed by the legendary Ken Loach and stars Trainspotting, The Full Monty and Once Upon a Time's Robert Carlyle, who has joined the cast of Line of Duty for the incoming seventh season.

It focuses on the relationship between a Scottish bus driver and a refugee from Nicaragua (played by Oyanka Cabezas) who fled from the Contra War. Stephen Fry also provides narration.

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The film is currently streaming for free on the Channel 4 service, and it's the only place you can stream it at the moment without having to buy or rent it.

Unfortunately, you've only got 28 days to watch it before it leaves the service.

And it's a film worth watching, as it was nominated for Best Film at both the BAFTAs and the Scottish BAFTAs, while Robert Carlyle won the Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Actor and the London Critics' Circle Film Award for British Actor of the Year.

Ken Loach himself also won the President of the Italian Senate's Gold Medal and was nominated for the Golden Lion (the top prize) at that year's Venice Film Festival.

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Over on Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a very strong 88% positive score, although due to its age, only eight reviews are collected.

Film Journal International (via RT) called it "an extraordinary illustration of the power of the cinematic art form", while user reviews on the site dubbed it "fantastic" and "raw [and] honest".

Carla's Song can be streamed on Channel 4 now.

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Joe Anderton is a freelance news writer at Digital Spy, having worked there since 2016. In his time, he's covered a host of live events and interviewed celebrities big and small. A big fan of TV and movies both mainstream and obscure, Joe also enjoys video games and in particular PlayStation. Joe currently does not use Twitter, but he only ever used it to tell people to watch the film Help! I'm a Fish.