BBC iPlayer is removing Jack Lowden's "spectacular" drama with Peter Capaldi very soon

BBC iPlayer is removing the 2021 film Benediction, a biographical romance drama about World War I veteran and poet Siegfried Sassoon, very soon. At the time of writing, it's available on the service for 14 days. That means that 6 November is the last day you'll be able to watch (or that's the day it'll be removed).

The film stars both Slow Horses actor Jack Lowden and former Doctor Who Doctor Peter Capaldi as Sassoon at different periods in his life.

The cast also includes Mary Queen of Scots' Simon Russell Beale, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again's Jeremy Irvine, God's Own Country's Gemma Jones, Andor's Anton Lesser, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes' Tom Blyth, and Downton Abbey's Geraldine James.

Related: Best streaming services UK 2026 – including Disney+, Netflix, iPlayer and Apple TV

The film was the last project directed by Terence Davies, a veteran filmmaker known for his biographical works.

It wasn't a box office hit, making less than £1 million worldwide, but critics absolutely loved it.

On Rotten Tomatoes, Benediction has an incredibly high score of 91% positive from 154 reviews.

IndieWire called it a "spectacular and terribly sad biopic about a poet cursed with the ability to express a private agony they could never escape" and "a film that trembles with a need for redemption that never comes, and the urgency of that search is palpable enough that you can feel it first-hand".

Related: Dame Judi Dench reveals the one role that "terrified" her the most

"Benediction is not an easy experience and some of the caustic, brittle dialogue scenes with Sassoon's celebrity acquaintances are grating - yet deliberately so," wrote The Guardian. "The sadness is overwhelming."

Little White Lies especially loved it, and dubbed it: "A mournful and magnificent ode of remembrance that lays bare the folly of war".

Benediction is currently available on BBC iPlayer. It can also be streamed with a Prime Video or BFI Player subscription.

Visit our Streaming Guide now to see at a glance where you can view ALL your favourite shows and movies.

The new edition of Legends, a 100-page celebration of the world of K-pop, is here. Buy K-Pop in newsagents or online.

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.