Gentlemen's Relish (TV 2001)

Kingdom Swann is a talented but rather naive Scottish artist who lives in Edwardian London with his housekeeper, Violet, a dowdy and self-effacing but very loyal young woman from Lancashire... See full summary »

Director:

Douglas Mackinnon

Writers:

Martyn Auty (additional scenes), Miles Gibson (novel),

Stars:

Billy Connolly, Sarah Lancashire, Douglas Henshall

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Billy Connolly	...	Kingdom Swann
Sarah Lancashire	...	Violet Askey
Douglas Henshall	...	Cromwell Marsh
Katie Blake	...	Charlotte Crisp
Liz Ewing	...	Alice Hancock
Emily Hillier	...	Ethel Spooner
Nick Stringer	...	Edward Shelburne
Teresa Banham	...	Jane Davidson
John Warnaby	...	Gordon Simms
Simon Chandler	...	Prestwick
Jamie Bradley	...	Stanley Gaunt
Dominic Mafham	...	Lord Thornycroft
Chris Middleton	...	Lanky Parsons
Tony Bluto	...	Market stall holder
Rebecca Johnson	...	Sarah Rossetti

Storyline

Kingdom Swann is a talented but rather naive Scottish artist who lives in Edwardian London with his housekeeper, Violet, a dowdy and self-effacing but very loyal young woman from Lancashire. He is dismayed to find that there is no longer a demand for his style of paintings. Then Violet buys him a camera from the local market stall. Helped by his unscrupulous new assistant, Cromwell Marsh, he soon transforms himself into "Kingdom Swann, Society Photographer" and is much in demand. When two younger sisters want him to take "artistic photographs" of themselves in the nude, Marsh hoodwinks Swann into specialising in "tableaux": photographic versions of famous paintings of nudes, using local prostitutes as his models. Marsh realises that he can make a great deal of money on the black market by secretly printing selected parts of these photos and selling them under the brand name "Gentlemen's Relish" to a supplier of pornography. Swann is completely innocent of what is going on. Violet, ...

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Plot Keywords:

nude model | female nudity | based on novel

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 January 2001 (UK)

Also Known As:

Ett pikant ärende

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Principal Pictures, Stock Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

User Reviews

I couldn't help myself enjoy this

Okay, fair cop, I confess that with Douglas Henshall in the cast list I would have watched this regardless. But what a way to begin the New Year (it premiered on BBC1 on New Year's Day 2001). It's a charming tale and beautifully presented. The costumes are lush and the setting is just right. Billy Connolly's relationship with Sarah Lancashire is so tenderly played that it captures your heart. She's come a long way since her soap opera days on "Coronation Street".

It has a sparkling script and each of the main characters has their own star moments. Why Henshall thinks he's playing Michael Caine is beyond my comprehension, but for all the incongruity of hearing Cockney geezer-speak coming from his Glaswegian born and bred mouth it is still a charming performance. The piece has adult content, but much of the script and performances are pure nostalgia with nudge-wink humour and old-fashioned romance. As someone who mostly loathes slapstick it's a joy to find farce so well presented. Even the minor characters (caricatures) fit the storyline well.

If granny has a rather ribald humour you might find that you can take her back in time with such a gentle-humoured drama. It wouldn't win any prizes for radical experimentation or high-quality anything, but it is a light and frothy way to fill any evening.