Continuing my coverage of the 1982 BBC miniseries The Barchester Chronicles. . . .
In the last episode, Eleanor fielded and turned down marriage proposals from Slope and Bertie and the question of who will be the next dean became a pressing issue.
And now, sadly, we have reached the last episode. Let’s see how everything gets wrapped up.
Continuing my coverage of the 1982 BBC miniseries The Barchester Chronicles. . . .
Previously, Slope has relied on some truly reprehensible levels of backstabbing to procure the warden post for Harding, after he had previously used his smarmy influence in gaining the job for Mr. Q.
Continuing my coverage of the 1982 BBC miniseries The Barchester Chronicles. . . .
Last time, there was much scheming about who was to replace Mr. Harding as the warden of the hospital, and Slope has started to try charming both the Signora and Eleanor in his quest for power and position in the cutthroat world of rural Anglican churchmen.
Continuing my coverage of the 1982 BBC miniseries The Barchester Chronicles. . . .
From here on out, each episode will get its own blog post. Previously, the genteel world of Barchester clergymen was upset by the arrival of the Proudies and Slope. Now, their reign of terror worsens.
The Barchester Chronicles sees Rickman returning to familiar territory–a BBC miniseries adaptation of a classic novel. This time, though, he has a much bigger role in the production.
This miniseries premiered a couple of months after his very brief appearance in Smiley’s People and is an adaptation of the first 2 novels in Anthony Trollope’s six book Barsetshire series–The Warden and Barchester Towers. I’ve not actually read the second book in the series, but I thoroughly enjoyed The Warden when I read it for a class a couple of years ago. I personally think Trollope is a much better, more interesting 19th century British writer than Charles Dickens, who is arguably more famous–Trollope’s characters are more nuanced and his stories are emotionally resonant without relying on melodrama. Plus, they are witty as can be. The first two episodes of this miniseries are an adaptation of The Warden while the remaining five are adaptations of Barchester Towers.
After 1980’s Thérèse Raquin, Rickman appeared in a couple of small television roles while still working on stage. One was a small role in a May 1980 episode of the sitcom Shelley, and the other was a very brief appearance in the 1982 miniseries Smiley’s People. We’ll look at both of them today.
Nearly a year and a half after Romeo and Juliet aired, Rickman returned to the BBC for his second television appearance–a small supporting role in a 3 part Thérèse Raquin miniseries.
Disclaimer–unlike Romeo and Juliet, which I am not a fan of, I actually do like the source material for this one very much. It’s been several years since I read Thérèse Raquin, but I was intrigued by the premise after I came across an interview with Kate Winslet where she was talking about how much she loved the book. I had never heard of it, thought the plot sounded interesting, and promptly requested it via interlibrary loan through the library I work at. I’ve always been fascinated by psychological thrillers, so the tale of an adulterous couple who slowly go insane after murdering the woman’s husband was right up my alley.
Despite enjoying the book, I’ve never watched any of the handful of adaptations of this novel, so beyond watching this one to see an early Rickman role, I was also curious to see how this story translated onscreen.
Note–the picture quality of this cover image does not reflect the pretty fuzzy picture quality of the version I watched on YouTube. Apologies in advance for the blurry screencaps.
Next page: “Episode 1”
So, let’s start the Alan Rickman Memorial Festival with his first-ever screen appearance.
Everyone always talks about Rickman’s impressive debut in Die Hard, but technically it’s only his film debut because Rickman had been acting on stage and the British small screen for years before. His television debut actually came a full ten years before Die Hard, in the BBC’s Television Shakespeare version of Romeo and Juliet. BBC Television Shakespeare was a seven season effort to broadcast all of Shakespeare’s plays on that channel, and Romeo and Juliet was the first episode to air. Rickman was tapped to play Tybalt, Juliet’s hotheaded cousin who hates Romeo and his whole family with a fiery, fiery passion.
