The History of Mr Polly (TV 2007)

In the early 1900s Alfred Polly, still hankering after his dream girl Christabel, marries Miriam Larkins and they open a shop, but, as the years go by, the marriage becomes stale and Polly ... See full summary »

Director:

Gillies MacKinnon

Writers:

Adrian Hodges (screenplay), H.G. Wells (novel)

Stars:

Lee Evans, Anne-Marie Duff, Julie Graham

2 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Lee Evans	...	Alfred Polly
Anne-Marie Duff	...	Miriam Larkins
Julie Graham	...	Nancy Potter
Richard Coyle	...	Jim
Beans El-Balawi	...	Young Polly (as Beans Balawi)
Richard Elfyn	...	William Polly
Paul Bown	...	Teacher
Catrin Morgan	...	Miss Armatage
John Warnaby	...	Mansfield
Roger Lloyd-Pack	...	Mr. Johnson
Selina Cadell	...	Mrs. Johnson
Chrissie Cotterill	...	Mrs. Larkins
Monica Dolan	...	Annie Larkins
Rebecca O'Mara	...	Minnie Larkins
Stan Stennett	...	Uncle Penstemon

Storyline

In the early 1900s Alfred Polly, still hankering after his dream girl Christabel, marries Miriam Larkins and they open a shop, but, as the years go by, the marriage becomes stale and Polly feels trapped. He decides to stage his own death by burning down the shop but becomes an accidental hero when he saves a deaf old lady from the flames. Giving Miriam the insurance pay-out he decides to go walkabout and gets a job at a country pub, the Potwell Inn, run by a kindly landlady. However, her violent nephew Jim is driving the customers away and Polly reluctantly faces up to him. Jim is drunk and falls in the river and drowns, wearing a pair of trousers stolen from Polly with Polly's name inside and so at last Polly has his perfect escape as it is assumed his is the corpse. After a visit to Miriam, now perfectly happy running a tea-shop, he returns to the Potwell Inn and the idyllic life he has always craved.

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Plot Keywords:

based on novel

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 May 2007 (UK)

Filming Locations:

South Wales, Wales, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$7,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Granada Television, ITV Productions, Wales Creative IP Fund

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min 120 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Goofs

When the newlywed Alfred and Miriam enter the shop for the first time, the lights are already lit.

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Connections

Featured in The Story of the Costume Drama: The Stars (2008)

User Reviews

A Good Remake of a Classic

By 2007, the film version of the History of Mr Polly was dated. The black and white film had not aged well and the occasional television performances were not of a high visual quality.

Therefore praise goes to ITV for remaking this classic HG Wells story for the small screen. Often remakes for the big screen fail to impress. By producing this version which remained faithful to the book and the original film and by screening it on a Sunday evening, ITV scored a huge success.

The cast is of a very high quality with Lee Evans adding to his repertoire of vexed characters. All the performances were strong and the pace of acting and story telling was more appealing to a 21st century audience.