We went to Doncaster's new cult cinema club to watch Withnail and I - here's our verdict

As a Withnail devotee that fits very firmly into the first category, let me try and explain.

Released in 1987, it is an absolute classic masterpiece of British cinema making.

Written and directed by Bruce Robinson and set in the late 1960s, the movie stars Richard E Grant (Withnail) and Paul McGann (I) as two unemployed actors, surviving on a diet of drink, drugs (and or course, lighter fluid) in a squalid London flat.

An attempt to rejuvenate in the Lake District on “a delightul weekend in the country” proves anything but, encountering surly locals, horrendous weather, a threatening poacher and in Marwood’s case, the aggressive sexual advances of Withnail's Uncle Monty (Richard Griffiths).

Combining comedy with tragedy, it is the very definition of a cult movie, largely because of its many quotable lines: “I demand to have some booze,” “We want the finest wines available to humanity, we want them here and we want them now!”, “We’ve gone on holiday by mistake” and “perfumed ponce” among many, many others.

Ripe and perfect picking then for In The Mood For Film, Doncaster’s new cult cinema club aimed at bringing some of the more offbeat and quirky movie masterpieces from over the years onto our radar.

Started earlier this year by movie buffs fed up of the usual fare offered up at the mainstream cinemas, the club, based in Doncaster Little Theatre in the heart of the city centre, has already paid tribute to the likes of acclaimed directors Spike Jonze and David Lynch with showings of their movies, with plenty more to come over the course of the year.

At its launch earlier this year, a spokesperson said: “Our aims are to bring a diverse and high-quality roster of films to Doncaster, promote a love of cinema and to offer something different to the multiplexes.

"We also want to ensure that the people of Doncaster don't have to travel out of the city for their culture fix.

"If you're huge film lovers, like us, you'll know that to see any cult or fringe films at the cinema, you're having to currently travel to Sheffield, Leeds or even further.

“We believe with Doncaster now having city status, it deserves its own cinema night thats independent from the mainstream.”

And so it was that my partner Giulia and I (see what I did there?) found ourselves as part of a record number of attendees for the screening of Withnail and I.

The black comedy is loosely based on writer Bruce Robinson's life in London in the late 1960s and described as "one of Britain's biggest cult films,” regularly makes it into the list of the country’s best movies.

With the audience given the chance to emulate the pair’s on screen antics ahead of the film – one scene sees the pair attempting to get cake and fine wines in a tea room – the Bone Idle Lounge and Bowland Bakehouse laid on treats for moviegoers to enjoy.

The club’s co-founder Rob Johnson (more from him later) gave the audience – a diverse bunch made up of all sorts of ages and backgrounds – a brief introduction to the movie – and we were all handed keepsake foyer cards, designed by local tattoo artist Chelsea Higgins Ink – a nice touch.

Naturally, I’ve seen the movie plenty of times, so didn’t think there was much more to learn about the world of Withnail.

But how wrong I was.

Before the main screening, we were treated to a mid 2000s short movie, Always Crashing In The Same Car, which reunites Grant and McGann in another dark plot – with a superb killer twist.

I didn’t even know it existed – so its appearance was a true delight ahead of the main feast.

My own love affair with the movie stretches back to not so long after its release.

At hazy, drunken sixth form house parties back in Doncaster in the early 90s, more often than not, amid the mess of beer cans and fag ends, someone at some stage would suggest sticking Withnail on.

Despite being non-plussed the first time I watched (possibly through too much snakebite) I stuck with it and revisited it sober. And that was the start of a lifelong love affair.

In the last 30 years or so, I’ve watched it countless times.

I can pretty much recite the film line by line. I use Withnail quotes in every day conversation (just thoughts really, but I am published) and I’ve been to Monty’s cottage up in Cumbria, read all the books there are about Withnail and I've posed in the phone box (How dare you!)

Last year, Toby Benjamin's book, Withnail and I: From Cult to Classic, explored the film in fascinating detail and a stage production in Birmingham (which I’m hoping will eventually make it to a nationwide tour) was superb.

Paul McGann plays the more level headed I (Marwood) to enthusiasts, while Grant delivers one of the great cinematic peformances of all time as the elegantly wasted, acerbic, flamboyant drunk that is Withnail.

It is a combination that’s truly magnetic. You know the classic lines are coming, you’ve heard them a million times before, but they are so perfectly excuted, they still make you laugh.

I’m sure there were plenty in the Little Theatre just like me who’ve seen it plenty – and maybe some watching for the very first time.

The broad age range of friends and families, couples, the lot proved Withnail and I still has a fantastically widespread appeal to all.

Having never actually seen it in a conventional indoor cinema (OK, I’ve seen it at two special outdoor screening events) it felt great to have a real taste of what it must have been like when the film first hit the UK cinemas at the tail end of the 80s.

It felt good to be surrounded by similarly enthused Withnail devotees – I suspect if I’d called the bloke next to me a “ponce” he wouldn’t have been in the slightest bit bothered.

This was a church for cult cinema fans to worship at the Withnail and I altar – and for 107 minutes, In The Mood For Film allowed us to drift into a world of randy bulls, Camberwell carrots, aggressive Irish “w*nkers” and people being threatened with dead fish.

Trust me, it will all make sense just by watching.

Club co-founder Rob Johnson said, in his review of the evening and movie, “Along with Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and to a slightly lesser extent Fight Club, Withnail and I was a foundational text for me as an adolescent in terms of discovering a counter-culture – a sub-society that operates outside of the boundaries and limits of ‘normal’ life.

"While I have seen Withnail many times, this particular viewing was my first in over 15 years. What I’d forgotten, or perhaps not realised the first time around, is just how dark and poignant and insistent it can be.

“You could genuinely find thirty one-liners here that are better than the best gags in 90% of comedies released in any era.

"Grant, in his breakthrough role, is utterly spellbinding, a man destined to be a star, all bulging eyes and sinewy arms and the long face of a particularly theatrical horse that has indeed ventured into the arena of the unwell.

"But his performance wouldn’t work if it were not complimented so beautifully by McGann’s sweet-natured and vulnerable turn as the second lead. The two of them together are explosive.

"A word too for Griffiths who ensures that Uncle Monty will go down as one of the most wonderfully preposterous comedic characters ever to grace the silver screen. I can’t decide if I want to drink port with the man or have him dropped into the sea.

“Withnail and I is a masterpiece. Of that, there is no doubt. The performances, the script, the incessant rainfall… it’s all so British. So beautiful. So ugly. All human life is here. Drink it in. Then eat a pork pie. An afternoon spent in the company of this film is an afternoon spent in the company of greatness.”

Absolute twaddle? Absolutely not.

There is, you'll agree, a certain 'je ne sais quoi' oh so very special about a Withnail and I screening.

• You can keep in touch with all future In The Mood For Film screenings via the club’s Facebook page, which can be found HERE