FOR the first time, a British film is being released simultaneously at cinemas, on DVD and Blu-Ray, online and on television today.

Film4 will show Ben Wheatley’s A Field In England (15) at 10.45am tonight, preceded by an 8.50pm interview with Wheatley and a post-film feature, Ben Wheatley on A Field In England, from 12.10am tomorrow.

City Screen, York, will be screening Wheatley’s nightmarish and hallucinatory black comedy set in 1648 during the English Civil War, but not today.

Instead, its screenings will be on Sunday at 8.15pm and Monday at 6.30pm. Sunday’s show will be accompanied by a recorded question-and-answer session with Wheatley and his cast.

Julian Barratt, from The Mighty Boosh, Michael Smiley, from Spaced, and Reece Shearsmith, from The League Of Gentlemen, star in Wheatley’s “cult movie of tomorrow”, a tale of 17th century mysticism, mystification and magic mushrooms.

Written by Wheatley’s wife, Amy Jump, who also worked on his earlier films Kill List and Sightseers, A Field In England is billed as an historical drama crossed with a psychedelic horror film, shot in black and white.

In Jump’s story, a small group of Civil War deserters (Barratt and Shearsmith’s characters, among them) flee a raging battle, whereupon an alchemist (Smiley) captures them, forcing them to help him search for buried treasure.

The group crosses a mushroom circle, which provides their first meal but also starts their descent into arguments, fighting, and paranoia. As it becomes clear that the treasure might not be gold, slowly they become victim to the terrifying energy trapped inside the field.

Tickets for City Screen’s two shows can be booked on 0871 902 5726. The Coney Street cinema will be serving limited-edition A Field In England bottled beer while stocks last.