The Glittering Prizes | |
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Genre | Drama |
Written by | Frederic Raphael |
Directed by | Waris Hussein Robert Knights |
Starring | Tom Conti |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 6 |
Production | |
Producer | Mark Shivas |
Running time | 80 minutes |
Production company | BBC |
Original release | |
Network | BBC2 |
Release | 21 January 25 February 1976 | –
The Glittering Prizes is a British television drama by Frederic Raphael about the changing lives of a group of Cambridge students, starting in 1952 and following them through to middle age in the 1970s.[1] It was first broadcast on BBC2 in January 1976[1] and later adapted into a novel of the same name.[2][3]
Episodes
[edit]Episode 1 ‘An Early Life’ aired 21 January 1976
Plot outline: It is the mid-1950s, Adam Morris (Tom Conti) begins his career as a Cambridge undergraduate on a scholarship. Some of Adam's views about class and religious faith are tested by an aristocratic fellow undergraduate who shares his rooms. The series's characters are introduced by their involvement in a play by the Cambridge Footlights.
Episode 2 ‘A Love Life’ aired 28 January 1976
Plot outline: Still the mid fifties., Adam marries Barbara (Barbara Kellerman), despite parental opposition, whilst Joyce (Angela Down) finds herself pregnant by Alan (John Gregg) but marries Dan (Malcolm Stoddard).
Episode 3 ‘A Past Life’ aired 4 February 1976
Plot outline: The early 1960s, Adam (Tom Conti) has a bruising encounter with a famous writer Stephen Taylor (Eric Porter) who was once a fascist sympathiser but then goes on to write an Oscar-winning screenplay.
Episode 4 ‘A Country Life’ aired 11 February 1976
Plot outline: The mid sixties. Set at a boys' approved school Joyce (Angela Down) must finally face up to some unpleasant truths about her seemingly idyllic marriage to Dan (Malcolm Stoddard), now a teacher, when their old Cambridge friend Alan (John Gregg (actor)), now a media personality, drops in.
Episode 5 ‘An Academic Life’ aired 18 February 1976
Plot Outline: the late sixties. Accusations of racism are made by student militants at a plate glass university featuring, Dinsdale Landen as Gavin Pope, Ray Smith (actor) as Austin Denny, Clive Merrison as Bill Bourne, Suzanne Stone as Joann Bourne, Tim Pigott-Smith as Tim Dent, Carolle Rousseau as Jeanne Dent.
Episode 6 ‘A Double Life’ aired 25 February 1976
Plot outline: It’s 1976, Adam (Tom Conti), by now a famous writer, copes with the death of his father and tragedies in the personal lives of some old Cambridge friends.
Cast (selected)
[edit]Character | Actor |
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Adam Morris | Tom Conti |
Barbara Morris | Barbara Kellerman |
Lionel Morris | Leonard Sachs |
Joyce Hadleigh/Bradley | Angela Down |
Dan Bradley | Malcolm Stoddard |
Barbara Ransome/Parks | Anna Carteret |
Donald Davidson | David Robb |
Mike Clode | Mark Wing-Davey |
Anna Cunningham | Emily Richard |
Alan Parks | John Gregg |
Denis Porson | Nigel Havers |
Bill Bourne | Clive Merrison |
Stephen Taylor | Eric Porter |
Gavin Pope | Dinsdale Landen |
Related works
[edit]- Fame and Fortune (2007) novel (sequel to The Glittering Prizes). Broadcast by BBC Radio 4 in six episodes October–November 2007
- Final Demands (2010) novel (sequel to Fame and Fortune). Broadcast by BBC Radio 4 in six episodes March 2010
References
[edit]- ^ a b Evans, Jeff (2001). The Penguin TV Companion. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-051467-8.
- ^ "BFI Screenonline: Glittering Prizes, The (1976)". www.screenonline.org.uk. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
- ^ The Glittering Prizes | TVmaze, retrieved 14 February 2022