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Star-studded cast marks the start of a new term at St Trinian’s, on DVD.

New take on a classic British comedy St Trinian’s released - starring a veritable who’s who of top talent. Executive producer Rupert Everett (Shrek, My Best Friend’s Wedding, The Next Best Thing, An Ideal Husband) takes on the dual roles of the unorthodox headmistress Camilla Fritton and her brother Carnaby Fritton opposite Colin Firth (Bridget Jones Diary, The Importance of Being Earnest) as Education Minister Geoffrey Thwaites.

Comedian Russell Brand stars as 'Flash Harry', Caterina Murino (Casino Royale) plays Miss Maupassant, the languages teacher, Jodie Whittaker (Venus) takes on the role of school receptionist Beverly, and Stephen Fry (Tooth, Wilde, BBCTVs BlackAdder series) plays the Quizmaster of thinly veiled University Challenege parody 'School Challenge.”

Lena Headey (300) plays new teacher, Miss Dickinson; Toby Jones (Infamous, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets) is the school’s Bursar; Celia Imrie (Bridget Jones’ Diary, Calendar Girls) is the Matron; Anna Chancellor, (Four Weddings and a Funeral, BBCTVs spy drama Spooks) plays Miss Bagstock and, Mischa Barton, British model and star of acclaimed US TV drama The OC, plays former head girl 'JJ' French, with international pop stars Girls Aloud playing the school band.

Lily Cole

A host of rising talent plays the new breed of modern day St Trinian’s girls including Gemma Arterton making her feature film debut as Kelly, the head girl, Talulah Riley (Pride And Prejudice), Amara Karan (recent successful indie The Darjeeling Limited), singer Paloma Faith Bloomfield, Tamsin Egerton (Keeping Mum), Antonia Bernath and top international catwalk model, Lily Cole, taking the role of student Polly.

The infamous school for ‘young ladies’, St Trinian’s, is once again facing dire financial crisis. While unorthodox headmistress Camilla Fritton struggles to deal with the new Education Minister Geoffrey Thwaites’ tireless advances and his unyielding objective of transforming her chaotic environs into a ‘respectable’ ladies’ college, the responsibility for saving the school from its creditors falls to the anarchic pupils. The fearless girls gather together a motley crew of teachers, associates, and the rest of the school’s ungovernable and uninhibited pranksters, who, using their wit, sass, determination and ingenuity, attempt to pull off the heist of the century and save the school from impending bankruptcy.

This new feature film version of St Trinian’s has been produced and directed by Oliver Parker (The Importance of Being Earnest, An Ideal Husband) and Barnaby Thompson (Wayne’s World 1 & 2, Spiceworld, An Ideal Husband) and has been written by Piers Ashworth and Nick Moorcroft.

Here's what some of the critics have made of the latest take on St. Trinians:

"...Talulah Riley and Gemma Arterton are both superb as the two lead girls. St Trinians is surprisingly good fun and certainly not the disaster it could have been (think Spice World). Worth seeing." - Matthew Turner (viewlondon.co.uk)

"This latest effort transports the school to the present day and attempts to update the series for the I-pod and Myspace generation. So now the girls are separated into various (contemporary) cliques – chavs, emos, geeks etc and run phone sex-lines while wearing Agent Provocateur underwear...Add to this the fact that the producers have plastered pictures of the teenage cast wearing school uniforms and suspenders all over the film's posters, and the whole exercise begins to feel like a slightly creepy and exploitative effort." - Orlando Parfitt (IGN UK). Read the complete IGN UK review here.

"Oliver Parker's high-heeled version of St Trinian's is a spiky, topical joy." - James Christopher (Times online)

"Filled with one-liners, the script lampoons modern pop phenomena, from Harry Potter to Pride and Prejudice, with Colin Firth providing a hilarious send up of the scene when Mr Darcy emerging from a lake." - Joe Roberts (pinknews.co.uk)

"Featuring as much girl power as a Spice Girls reunion gig, this return to the infamous boarding school of the '50s movies is a feisty brew of short skirts, 'am I bovvered?' attitude and nods to the film histories of its stars. Despite being decidedly slapdash this retro revamp stays true to the anarchic spirit of the original Trinian’s movies. Ofsted inspectors can expect nightmares; everyone else will be mildly amused. (Total Film magazine).

"This is a monumentally naff film, shaming and depressing in a way that British feature-film comedies have persisted in being, intermittently, all our lives. Cheesy, dated, humourless and crass, it's a nightmare of stunt-casting...Despite its continuous stream of up-to-the-minute pop culture references, it has been updated only to about 1978, a spiritual cousin to the late-period Carry Ons." - Peter Bradshaw (The Guardian newspaper 21/12/07).

For more information on the new feature film visit the official St Trinians movie website: www.sttriniansmovie.co.uk

St Trinians is out on DVD now, rated 12A.

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More information available in DVD / Home Video, Humour