The Crimson Petal and the White (2011– )

Set in 1870s London, a young prostitute finds potential power and status after becoming the mistress of a powerful patriarch.

Stars:

Romola Garai, Chris O'Dowd, Amanda Hale

4 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Romola Garai	...	Sugar (4 episodes, 2011)
Chris O'Dowd	...	William Rackham (4 episodes, 2011)
Amanda Hale	...	Mrs. Agnes Rackham (4 episodes, 2011)
Shirley Henderson	...	Mrs. Emmeline Fox (4 episodes, 2011)
Katie Lyons	...	Clara (4 episodes, 2011)
Eleanor Yates	...	Letty (4 episodes, 2011)
Elizabeth Berrington	...	Lady Constance Bridgelow (4 episodes, 2011)
Richard E. Grant	...	Doctor Curlew (4 episodes, 2011)
James Wilson	...	Christopher (3 episodes, 2011)
Clare Louise Connolly	...	Janey (3 episodes, 2011)
Isla Watt	...	Sophie Rackham (3 episodes, 2011)
Tom Georgeson	...	Henry Rackham Senior (3 episodes, 2011)
Liz White	...	Caroline (3 episodes, 2011)
Branwell Donaghey	...	Cheesman (3 episodes, 2011)
Blake Ritson	...	Bodley (3 episodes, 2011)
Bertie Carvel	...	Ashwell (3 episodes, 2011)
Gillian Anderson	...	Mrs. Castaway (2 episodes, 2011)
Mark Gatiss	...	Henry Rackham Junior (2 episodes, 2011)
Wendy Nottingham	...	Miss Beatrice Cleave (2 episodes, 2011)
Alan Williams	...	Colonel Leek (2 episodes, 2011)
Maimie McCoy	...	Fireside Whore 1 (2 episodes, 2011)
Sarah Ridgeway	...	Fireside Whore 2 (2 episodes, 2011)
Izabella Urbanowicz	...	Fireside Whore 3 (2 episodes, 2011)

Storyline

Set in 1870s London, a young prostitute finds potential power and status after becoming the mistress of a powerful patriarch.

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Plot Keywords:

prostitute | sexual hysteria | victorian house | powerlessness | mental illness | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Details

Language:

English

Also Known As:

Pétalo carmesí, flor blanca

Company Credits

Production Co:

Origin Pictures, Cité-Amérique, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

When asked about his nudity in the miniseries at the Starz/Encore portion of the Television Critics Association summer tour in Beverly Hills (via satellite from London), Chris O'Down said he thought it was important to the character: "Guess it was just necessary. It would feel very, very silly to be skittish about such things [because] Romola [Garai] is going so far with those things [in her performance]". Also, commenting on his costar Romola Garai and their characters, he said "Romola's such a professional and such a wonderful actor and we kind of made it work... These characters are so selfish and actors aren't the most selfless persons in the world, so combine those two things and it had its ups and downs."

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Connections

Featured in The Wright Stuff: Episode #15.70 (2011)

User Reviews

Brilliantly Dark

As an avid watcher of period drama and also as a film student, I found this drama particularly engrossing. It was extremely well written and executed. The costumes and sets were authentic-looking and very detailed, which made it that much easier to watch. The opening sequence of the first episode really sets the tone and clues you in to the overall darkness of the series, which the viewer is sometimes coaxed into forgetting. The music, the dim lighting, the angled shots of eerie faces and unsettling scenes in dark rooms and alleyways. I would almost think this was based on a Dickens novel if weren't for the next few scenes.

As for the characters and the acting, pretty damn awesome. The whole cast was amazing and very believable, this made me love Romola Garai even more, but I have to say that the standout for me was Amanda Hale as the enslaved and sickly wife and tragic heroine Agnes Rackham. The plot moves along at a good pace, stopping along for some elaborate scenes that depict the characters in their respective prisons, whether it be a big lonely house or a dirty brothel- and you should be warned now: they really don't leave much out; it romanticizes nothing. I sympathized with nearly every character, some more than others, as each is scheming or dreaming a way to a freedom. Some scenes were hard to watch and pretty disturbing, especially once I became so connected to the characters, but I felt that most of them were necessary to the plot.

This is the point where I could go on and on about the lighting and the music and the costumes/sets and the photography, all of which were amazing (yay for Marc Munden, you have new fan). But I will refrain from my geek-out and just say that it really was good for all those reasons. "The Crimson Petal..." paints a very gritty and slightly morbid portrait of what life was like for women of different class in Victorian England and it makes me thankful to be a young woman in the 21st century. Sugar as the embodiment and narrator, I felt, was quite human and easy to understand, and was such a fascinating character throughout, sometimes hard and devious, and always wickedly smart and wise beyond her years, and sometimes righteous and compassionate. The only reason this is a 8/10 is that there were just a few weird jumps in the editing from time to time and also my own squeamishness, but it hardly detracts from the overall brilliance of this series.