The film is being touted as "the next Full Monty" and last night's world premiere in London of Calendar Girls marked the start of the bid by a North Yorkshire Women's Institute to conquer the movie world.

It was their Northern exposure that started it all, when members in Rylstone bared almost all for a fundraising calendar. A screen version was inevitable, just as it was unthinkable to cast anyone but Julie Walters as the widow who puts all her efforts into the calendar after her husband's death, and Helen Mirren as the prime mover and willing stripper behind the saucy idea.

Add a rollcall of familiar British actresses of a certain age, picturesque Yorkshire locations and a heart-tugging story - and how can you possibly fail?

Tim Firth's script, as the women's fame takes them from the WI world of jam and Jerusalem in Yorkshire to the glamour of stretch limousines and television talk shows in Hollywood, is a perfect balance of laughter and tears.

This is something we British do exceedingly well, and Calendar Girls does not put a foot wrong.

The publicity machine has been beating the drum for the film since its successful launch at the Cannes Film Festival in May. Next week, after an exclusive week's run at a London cinema, everyone gets the chance to see what the fuss is all about.

They won't be disappointed. Calendar Girls is a film with a heart that never loses sight of the reason the women went naked - to raise money for leukaemia research.

There seems no reason why it won't end up the most successful British film of the year. And, with a Christmas Day opening planned for the US, the chance of 2004 Oscar success is a real possibility.

Calendar Girls (12A) has a regional premiere in Leeds tonight and goes on general release from September 12.