Brideshead Revisited (TV serial)

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This article is about the TV serial. For the novel, see Brideshead Revisited. For the film, see Brideshead Revisited (film).

Brideshead Revisited
Brideshead Revisited DVD cover
Genre	Period drama
Running time	659 min.
Production company	Granada Television
Written by	Novel: Evelyn Waugh Screenplay: John Mortimer
Directed by	Charles Sturridge Michael Lindsay-Hogg
Produced by	Derek Granger
Starring	Jeremy Irons Anthony Andrews Phoebe Nicholls Jane Asher Simon Jones John Gielgud Laurence Olivier
Music by	Geoffrey Burgon
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Language	English
Original channel	ITV
Original run	12 October – 21 December 1981
No. of episodes	11
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Brideshead Revisited is a 1981 British television serial based on the novel of the same name by Evelyn Waugh. The book was adapted to the screen by producer Derek Granger and Martin Thompson after the initial script by John Mortimer was rejected. It was directed mainly by Charles Sturridge, but part of one or more episodes by Michael Lindsay-Hogg. It stars Jeremy Irons as Charles Ryder, Anthony Andrews as Lord Sebastian Flyte, Laurence Olivier as Lord Marchmain, Claire Bloom as Lady Marchmain, Diana Quick as Lady Julia Flyte, and Jane Asher as Lady Celia Ryder; also featuring Phoebe Nicholls as Lady Cordelia Flyte, John Gielgud as Edward Ryder, Simon Jones as Lord Brideshead, Nickolas Grace as Anthony Blanche, Stéphane Audran as Cara, Lord Marchmain's lover, and Charles Keating as Rex Mottram.

The Oxford scenes were largely filmed at Waugh's alma mater, Hertford College, Wadham College and Christ Church. The location for Brideshead, the fictional manor, was Castle Howard in Yorkshire. Scenes on the deck of a transatlantic liner were filmed aboard the RMS Queen Elizabeth 2. By the standards of British television, the drama series of the late 1970s was lavish; Granada Television's broadcasting franchise was up for competitive renewal in 1981 so the company designed Brideshead Revisited to prove themselves a quality company.

It was shown in the United States on Public Broadcasting Service and was considered daring at the time for its willingness to show an extended sex scene between Charles Ryder and Julia Flyte. Tom Wolfe wrote that the series was successful in the United States because it was a plutography, i.e., a "graphic depiction of the lives of the rich."

The memorable theme with a high baroque trumpet was composed by Geoffrey Burgon.

In a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes drawn up by the British Film Institute in 2000, voted for by industry professionals, the adaptation was placed tenth.

This programme received so many votes that it finished seventh in the the Best of Masterpiece Theatre vote conducted for the 35th anniversary of that anthology series. Anthony Andrews came on at the end of the program to explain that it was not a Masterpiece Theatre production. It had aired in the US as a part of the PBS series Great Performances in 1982.

[edit] Episodes

Release Order	Title	Original airdate	Episode Number
1	"Et in Arcadia Ego"	October 12, 1981	01
In the spring of 1944 Charles Ryder, an Army Captain is moving with his company to a new Brigade Headquarters. Upon their arrival Charles discovers that he has unwittingly returned to Brideshead, the large country estate where he encountered the Marchmain family. Seeing the house for the first time in many years, he recalls his first visit to Brideshead and his initial meeting with Sebastian at Oxford University in 1922.
2	"Home and Abroad"	October 19, 1981	02
With the Marchmain family away for summer, Charles goes to stay with Sebastian at Brideshead. During the summer they travel to Venice to stay with Sebastian's father, Lord Marchmain.
3	"The Bleak Light of Day"	October 26, 1981	03
Returning to Oxford for their second term, Lady Marchmain visits the university, telling Charles that she is relying on him to be a good influence on Sebastian. Later, invited by Sebastian's sister Julia to a charity ball in London, Charles and Sebastian escape to a seedy Soho club. Finding themselves in prison after a drunken Sebastian crashes their car, only the political and social power of Rex Mottram and Mr Samgrass prevent Sebastian being let off with anything more than a fine.
4	"Sebastian Against The World"	November 2, 1981	04
With Sebastian now stifled by the ever watchful eyes of Mr Samgrass, Charles realises that his friend is quickly heading for trouble, and after discovering Sebastian drunk in his room he is accused for being a spy for Lady Marchmain. Refusing to conspire with Sebastian's mother, Charles returns to his father in London to ask his permission to leave Oxford in order to study art.
5	"A Blow Upon a Bruise"	November 9, 1981	05
Charles returns from his art studies in Paris to celebrate the New Year of 1925 at Brideshead to find that Sebastian has also been abroad, travelling around the Levant with Mr Samgrass. When Sebastian asks Charles for money to spend on alcohol during the day's hunting, Charles reluctantly agrees. After a rebuke from Lady Marchmain, Charles leaves Brideshead, expecting never to return.
6	"Julia"	November 16, 1981	06
Whilst in Paris Charles in visited by Rex Mottram, who is looking for Sebastian after he stole his money and disappeared. Charles learns from Rex that Lady Marchmain is deeply ill and the the family's finances are in a desperate condition. In London, Lady Marchmain consents to the marriage of Rex and Julia on the condition that Rex becomes a Catholic.
7	"The Unseen Hook"	November 23, 1981	07
Charles returns to England in May 1926 during the General Strike. Julia asks Charles to try to find Sebastian to tell him of his mother's grave condition. He discovers Sebastian in Morocco, now an alcoholic living with a deserter from the German Army. Unable to persuade Sebastian to return, Lady Marchmain dies whilst Charles is in Morocco with Sebastian.
8	"Brideshead Deserted"	November 30, 1981	08
Charles, now a successful painter, is commissioned to paint Marchmain House in London, which is to be sold in order to rectify the family's financial difficulties. Later, Charles travels for two years painting scenes in South America. Returning to New York he is reunited with his wife Celia. On the journey home across the Atlantic, Charles discovers Julia is also a passenger.
9	"Orphans of the Storm"	December 7, 1981	09
During a violent storm at sea, while Celia is seasick in bed, Charles and Julia wander the deserted ship together. They spend the night together in Julia's cabin and arrange to meet again when the arrive back in London.
10	"A Twitch Upon the Thread"	December 14, 1981	10
Charles and Julia have now been lovers, living at Bridehead for two years, both planning to divorce their partners and marry each other.
11	"Brideshead Revisited"	December 21, 1981	11
After years of exile in Venice, Lord Marchmain decides to return home to die. In 1944 Charles walks around Brideshead, finding himself returning once more to the chapel, where a candle still burns.