The Young Visiters (2003) (TV)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

David Yates

Writers:

Daisy Ashford (story)
Patrick Barlow (screenplay)

Release Date:

26 December 2003 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Family | Fantasy

Plot:

Alfred Salteena is a slightly bumbling gentleman who meets a young lady on a train and invites her to his home in London...

Plot Keywords:

Intentionally Misspelled Title | 1910s

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Jim Broadbent	...	Alfred Salteena
Hugh Laurie	...	Lord Bernard Clark
Lyndsey Marshal	...	Ethel Monticue
Bill Nighy	...	Earl of Clincham
Geoffrey Palmer	...	Minnit
Simon Russell Beale	...	Prince of Wales
Adam Godley	...	Procurio
Sophie Thompson	...	Bessie Topp
Sally Hawkins	...	Rosalind
Richenda Carey	...	Lady Gay Finchling
Anne Reid	...	Mrs. Monticue
Tom Burke	...	Horace
Richard Beale	...	Middle Aged Man
James Warrior	...	Station Master
Guy Henry	...	Mr. Domonic

Runtime:

UK:90 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:G

Filming Locations:

Bluebell Railway, East Sussex, England, UK

Company:

BBC Drama Group

Trivia:

The source novel incorporated a lot of Ashford's mis-spellings, and the film does this also - in the title, and in some of the signs which can be seen in the palace scenes (e.g. 'Prince of Whales').

Quotes:

Narrator: They mated very well and produced 7 children.

Don't forget the original author!

Naming the original author of this work has been omitted, which is a shame because it makes the viewers understanding of the story all the more relevant.

"The Young Visitors: Or, Mr. Salteena's Plan" was written by nine-year-old Daisy Ashford in 1890 (yes, 1890!) and is an innocent yet inadvertently amusing spoof of Victorian society.

The following is a copy of the book review written by Terry Rose, grandson of Daisy Ashord, as appears on www.amazon.co.uk:

"My Grandmother, Daisy Ashford never set out to become an author, writing stories was entertainment for her and her sisters. Her writing "career" started at the age of 4 when she dictated The Life of Father McSwiney to her father and ended at the age of 14 with The Hangman's Daughter. Her best novel, The Young Visiters was written in 1890 when she was 9.

That it was published at all is almost as remarkable a story as the book itself. Daisy and her sisters came upon a bundle of notebooks neatly tied and stored whilst clearing their mother's house following her death. They found The Young Visiters so amusing Daisy sent it to a sick friend to cheer her up. She in turn passed it to Frank Swinnerton, a novelist and reader for Chatto and Windus who believed it could be successfully published. What followed would these days be thought of as clever marketing but in fact was quite unintentional back in 1919 when the book was first published. JM Barrie agreed to write the preface and an amazed public, unable to accept that a 9 year old could have possibly written it assumed that Dsiy did not exist and that Barrie was the author. This resulted in huge amounts of publicity on both sides of the Atlantic and The Young Visiters immediately became a bestseller. Daisy, always shy and modest had to take to giving readings in London to dispell the myth that Barrie was the author. The Young Visiters has remained in print (Daisy's other stories have been published over the years but none has been as popular) and become widely loved. Other reviewers here have written better than I could about the charm of the little book. The BBC have just made it into a wonderful film, with Patrick Barlow's screenplay capturing the magic of Daisy's writing. We visited the set whilst they were filming at St Paul's Cathedral, the cast were captivated by the book. I think everyone will be."