Every Roald Dahl Movie Adaptation Ranked Worst To Best

10. Danny, Champion Of The World

A fairly understated affair given Dahl’s penchant for zany chocolate factory tycoons, friendly giants and oversized fruits, Danny, Champion of the World is a relatively normal tale of a young lad and his car mechanic-pheasant poacher father and their dealings with rich, snobbish landowner Victor Hazell in rural 1950s England.

Hot on the heels of playing freaky twin gynaecologists in Dead Ringers, Jeremy Irons takes the role of Danny’s dad William and his real life son Samuel Irons plays Danny bringing an unforced naturalism to their parts in Scottish film critic and director Gavin Millar’s 1989 adaptation, while Robbie Coltrane is suitably unpleasant as Victor Hazell and joined by Geordie crooner Jimmy Nail as gruff gamekeeper Mr Rabbetts.

It’s a sweet enough film with an admittedly charming nostalgic quality to it, and it’s one of the most faithful adaptations of Dahl’s books to date which apparently pleased him the writer greatly – in fact, it was reportedly the favourite of all his film adaptations. But delightful as it is, it’s a largely forgettable film especially compared to the wacky and wondrous worlds in other Dahl books and movies.