"A Dance to the Music of Time" (1997) TV mini-series 1997-

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

9 October 1997 (UK)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Anthony Powell's 12 volume novel sequence "A Dance to the Music of Time" has been dramatised for television.

Plot Keywords:

British TV | Black Shirt | Oxford | Dancing | 1930s

Awards:

3 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Gillian Barge	...	Mrs. Erdleigh (4 episodes, 1997)
Nicholas Jones	...	Bob Duport / ... (4 episodes, 1997)
Simon Russell Beale	...	Widmerpool (4 episodes, 1997)
Robin Bailey	...	Uncle Alfred (3 episodes, 1997)
Jonathan Cake	...	Peter Templer (3 episodes, 1997)
James Fleet	...	Moreland (3 episodes, 1997)
Richard Pasco	...	Sir Magnus Donners (3 episodes, 1997)
James Purefoy	...	Nicholas Jenkins (3 episodes, 1997)
Paul Rhys	...	Charles Stringham (3 episodes, 1997)
Annabel Mullion	...	Mona (3 episodes, 1997)
Claire Skinner	...	Jean (3 episodes, 1997)
Adrian Scarborough	...	JG Quiggin (3 episodes, 1997)
Grant Thatcher	...	Mark Members (3 episodes, 1997)
Sarah Badel	...	Lady Molly (2 episodes, 1997)
Alan Bennett	...	Sillery (2 episodes, 1997)
Emma Fielding	...	Isobel (2 episodes, 1997)
Oliver Ford Davies	...	Le Bas (2 episodes, 1997)
Edward Fox	...	Uncle Giles (2 episodes, 1997)
Anastasia Hille	...	Matilda (2 episodes, 1997)
Nigel Lindsay	...	Odo Stevens (2 episodes, 1997)
Miranda Richardson	...	Pamela Flitton (2 episodes, 1997)
Zoë Wanamaker	...	Audrey Maclintick (2 episodes, 1997)
Michael Williams	...	Ted Jeavons (2 episodes, 1997)
Geraldine Alexander	...	Susan (2 episodes, 1997)
Carmen Du Sautoy	...	Miss Weedon (2 episodes, 1997)
Nicholas Rowe	...	David Pennistone / ... (2 episodes, 1997)
Barbara Durkin	...	Betty (2 episodes, 1997)
Andrew Havill	...	Sunny Farebrother (2 episodes, 1997)
Osmund Bullock	...	Erridge (2 episodes, 1997)
Caroline Harker	...	Priscilla (2 episodes, 1997)
Tony Osoba	...	Colonel Flores (2 episodes, 1997)
Bryan Pringle	...	Smith (2 episodes, 1997)
Carmen Gómez	...	Rosie Mansach (2 episodes, 1997)
Laura Heath	...	Fiona Cuts / ... (2 episodes, 1997)
Rachel Lumberg	...	Judy (2 episodes, 1997)
Danny Midwinter	...	Chuck (2 episodes, 1997)

Series Directed by
Christopher Morahan		(2 episodes, 1997)
Alvin Rakoff		(2 episodes, 1997)

Series Writing credits
Anthony Powell		(4 episodes, 1997)
Hugh Whitemore		(4 episodes, 1997)

Series Produced by
Lorraine Goodman	....	associate producer (4 episodes, 1997)
Alvin Rakoff	....	producer (4 episodes, 1997)
Hugh Whitemore	....	executive producer (4 episodes, 1997)
Peter Ansorge	....	commissioning editor (unknown episodes)

Series Original Music by
Carl Davis		(4 episodes, 1997)

Series Cinematography by
Chris Seager		(4 episodes, 1997)

Series Film Editing by
Jake Bernard		(2 episodes, 1997)

Series Casting by
Joyce Gallie		(4 episodes, 1997)

Series Production Design by
Eileen Diss		(4 episodes, 1997)

Series Art Direction by
Humphrey Bangham		(4 episodes, 1997)
Chris Roope		(4 episodes, 1997)

Series Costume Design by
Dany Everett		(2 episodes, 1997)
Barbara Kidd		(2 episodes, 1997)

Series Makeup Department
Stevie Hall	....	makeup artist (4 episodes, 1997)
Mary Hillman	....	makeup designer (4 episodes, 1997)
Tracy Lee	....	makeup artist (2 episodes, 1997)
C.J. Wills	....	makeup artist (2 episodes, 1997)

Series Production Management
Liz Pearson	....	post-production supervisor (4 episodes, 1997)

Series Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Marcia Gay	....	first assistant director (2 episodes, 1997)
Russell Lodge	....	third assistant director (unknown episodes)

Series Art Department
Ron Dowling	....	stand-by props (4 episodes, 1997)
Tim Ellis	....	assistant art director (4 episodes, 1997)
Ken Marples	....	construction manager / construction coordinator (4 episodes, 1997)
Mike Povey	....	property master (4 episodes, 1997)
Chris Rawlings	....	stand-by props (4 episodes, 1997)
B. Hampton	....	dressing props (2 episodes, 1997)
Meike Maher	....	art department runner (2 episodes, 1997)
Michael Preece	....	production buyer (2 episodes, 1997)
Brian Read	....	production buyer (2 episodes, 1997)
J. Searle	....	dressing props (2 episodes, 1997)
D. Sedgewick	....	dressing props (2 episodes, 1997)
Eddy Klima	....	carpenter (unknown episodes)
Greg Mason	....	painter (unknown episodes)
Terry Royce	....	dressing props (unknown episodes)

Series Sound Department
David Old	....	dubbing mixer (4 episodes, 1997)
Ian Wilkinson	....	sound editor (4 episodes, 1997)
Wayne Brooks	....	sound editor (3 episodes, 1997)
Clive Derbyshire	....	sound recordist (3 episodes, 1997)
Steve Fish	....	boom operator (3 episodes, 1997)
Rowena Wilkinson	....	foley artist (unknown episodes)

Series Special Effects by
David Holt	....	special effects assistant (1 episode, 1997)

Series Stunts
Peter Brayham	....	stunt coordinator (4 episodes, 1997)
Dean Forster	....	stunts (unknown episodes)
Joss Gower	....	stunt performer (unknown episodes)
Andreas Petrides	....	stunts (unknown episodes)
Curtis Rivers	....	stunt double: James Purefoy (unknown episodes)

Series Camera and Electrical Department
Mark Funnell	....	electrician (4 episodes, 1997)
Darren Harvey	....	best boy (4 episodes, 1997)
Dave Mason	....	gaffer (4 episodes, 1997)
Charlie Palmer	....	focus puller (4 episodes, 1997)
Gary Parnham	....	electrician (4 episodes, 1997)
Micky Patten	....	grip (4 episodes, 1997)
Tony Woodcock	....	camera operator (4 episodes, 1997)
Duncan Scott	....	clapper loader (2 episodes, 1997)

Series Casting Department
Sally Osoba	....	casting coordinator (4 episodes, 1997)

Series Costume and Wardrobe Department
Lou Durkin	....	wardrobe assistant (4 episodes, 1997)
Sharon Long	....	costume supervisor (4 episodes, 1997)
Helen Mattocks	....	wardrobe assistant (4 episodes, 1997)
Anthony Brookman	....	assistant costume designer (2 episodes, 1997)
Richard Cooke	....	assistant costume designer (2 episodes, 1997)
Andrew Hunt	....	costume assistant (unknown episodes)

Series Editorial Department
Dominic Strevens	....	assistant editor (2 episodes, 1997)

Series Music Department
Marianne Faithfull	....	performer: song (1 episode, 1997)

Series Other crew
Sarah Garner	....	script supervisor (4 episodes, 1997)
Emma Mager	....	production coordinator (4 episodes, 1997)
Alfred Shaughnessy	....	special advisor (4 episodes, 1997)
Geraldine Stephenson	....	choreographer (4 episodes, 1997)
Wendy Ellerker	....	production accountant (3 episodes, 1997)
Warren Chapman	....	production runner (2 episodes, 1997)
John Rakoff	....	floor runner (2 episodes, 1997)
Angela Bond	....	assistant accountant (unknown episodes)

Production Companies

• Table Top Productions
• Channel 4 Television Corporation

Distributors

• Cinema Club (2003) (UK) (DVD)

Other Companies

• ARRI Lighting Rental  light equipment
• Film Finances  completion guarantor

Also Known As:

Runtime:

UK:416 min (4 parts)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Singapore:M18

Filming Locations:

Berkeley Castle, Berkeley, Gloucestershire, England, UK

Company:

Table Top Productions

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the final segment, when Widmerpool is kissing the feet of the disciples, the edge of his phony hairpiece is clearly visible on the back of his head.

Soundtrack:

Twentieth Century Blues

Execution almost perfect, subject matter a question....

No, I haven't read the books, but I have read Proust, and you can bet Mr. Powell read him too. Powell's first volume appeared thirty years after Proust's death, and a greater valentine can't be imagined.

Both "Dance" and "In Search of Lost Time" are panoramic multi-generational quasi-autobiographical narratives of the gentry they knew. Lower class types pop in from time to time, but they never take center stage for long. Both genteel epics run more than 3000 pages. Major characters are rarely single portraits, but are usually drawn from composites of two or three prototypes. Both works chronicle the human cycles of birth, education, coupling, re-coupling, decay and death.

In addition to writing earlier, Proust had the structural advantage of writing the beginning and end of his novel first, spending the rest of his life filling in the middle. It was a meditation on the nature of memory, and underlying all the gossip and melodrama is an awareness that there is a coherent thesis and philosophy tying the whole journey together.

At least as presented here, no such unifying ideas are discernible in Powell. We meet characters of greater or lesser interest, they do the things that people do (and sometimes don't do, and occasionally never have done in the history of the world). They learn, age, crack-up and die, but the whole thing just kind of trails off and rumbles to a stop rather than ends. We may have a good time getting there, but I wind up wondering why we made the trip.

In response to criticisms of the abridgment, we should note that Powell, as a former screenwriter, was not upset at the reshaping of his work for TV. Nicholas Coleridge reports: "Powell, himself, says that 'Somewhat to my surprise' he is happy with the adaptation. 'It seems quite alright to me,' he told me with faltering voice, on the telephone. 'I think they've done it as well as this medium possibly can.'"

Across the board, the actors are almost uniformly pleasing. Simon Russell Beale has been rightly cheered for his remarkable and daring Widmerpool, but Michael Williams (Judi Dench's late husband) is outstanding as Ted Jeavons, and Edward Fox steals every scene he's in, no surprise there. James Purefoy as Nick has to do a lot of listening, and occasionally he does it wonderfully well.

I was not upset at the recasting of half a dozen characters in the fourth film. Some of the young actors looked quite silly in extreme age makeup as practiced 10 years ago. I'd have been happier if it had been more widespread. It took me about 8 seconds to register that Nick and Isabel and Jean were played by different actors, and then I plunged right back into the story. I'm sorry for the viewers that were derailed by the substitutions, but I wasn't.

I am perplexed by the character of Pamela Flitton as played here in her unique patented performance by Miranda Richardson. She is a vicious, irritable, impatient, destructive, sexually voracious, uncontrolled and uncontrollable woman, everything that panics an English writer from Charles Dickens to Bram Stoker and onward.

Pamela is a crimson-lipped vampire straight out of Hammer Horror, and not one thing she does or says has a motivation. I hope the books are more coherent in explaining why, why anything.

BTW, the film "A Business Affair," from novels by Barbara Skelton, gives Pamela's prototype's side of the story, and I look forward to seeing it by way of further illumination. There's precious little to comprehend on view here. She just is.

Anyway, this is all professionally done and makes for entertaining viewing. It may not be the absolute best of its genre, but it's a long way from the worst. It is highly recommended to people who like British miniseries based on long novels.

OTOH, no one has ever made a good movie out of Proust, they're all terrible. There's a wonderful published screenplay Harold Pinter wrote for Joseph Losey, but it was never produced. If you want to spend a year reading 3000 pages, please start first with Proust, then take on Powell for dessert.