The Lady in the Van "The Lady in the Van" was greenlit on 3 June 2014, with TriStar Productions and BBC Films working together to make the film adaptation of Alan Bennett's West End hit. TriStar won the film rights to handle worldwide distribution, while the BBC was the first to show the film on television in the UK. The involvement of Maggie Smith and Nicholas Hytner was announced simultaneously with the film, but they were attached to the project as early as 9 May (coincidentally Bennett's 80th birthday). Both of them had collaborated with Bennett in the past; Hytner on "The Madness of King
The Lady in the Van his increasingly invalid mother. Though he denies "caring" for anyone, he slowly becomes aware of his growing friendship with Miss Shepherd. After coming home early from a day centre he sent her to, she dies peacefully in her sleep in her van. Alan decides to write a memoir covering the years he's known her. In 2014, the real Bennett is shown observing this film's final scene as it's shot: his younger self unveiling a plaque on his home dedicated to "The Lady in the Van". The principal cast of Bennett's 2006 film "The History Boys" appear in cameo roles, with