We never learn! The British summer is unreliable at best and yet we love to have outdoor events which test our stoical nature and inevitably involve a lot of plastic!

When the sun was shining, I was tempted by the idea of viewing the classic Woody Allen film ‘Annie Hall’ in the glorious surroundings of Somerset House. I’d not seen the film for decades and had been reminded by a great film poster exhibition in Somerset House which was inspired by the film season.

The poster exhibition is a series of delightful screen prints each offering an original take on one of the films showing in the Film 4 Summer Series, now in its 10th year of braving the weather. The 2014 series has shown17 cult films, classics and premiers new work. Somerset House had teamed up with the Print Club London to show these excellent prints, each a reimagining of one of the films in the lineup. See if you can spot Rosemary’s Baby, Annie Hall, Ghost Busters, ET, Mad Max 2, A Fistful of Dollars, and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes in these photos:

As the evening of my film screening drew closer the glorious summer took its leave and sent us heavy showers of rain instead which bounced ferociously off the pavements. We waited until minutes before the film was due to start and dodged the last shower to find the final spot of ground to throw our blankets and plastic sheets on. The sight of hundreds of fellow film lovers covered in Film 4 ponchos was amusing but I did feel sorry for those sitting on sodden blankets.

Poncho city

Annie Hall was a great watch and kept us entertained despite the chilly evening. It felt very fresh and it was hard to believe it was released in 1977. A charming but not sentimental tale romcom from before they were called that with a series of cameo appearances from Paul Simon, Christopher Walken and Jeff Goldblum- all looking so young. It turned out that outdoor cinema in a British summer is worth it after all!

Woody looms out of the dark

Classic Woody and Diane Keaton