At the time this was the most expensive drama made by the BBC. It cost £6 million with extensive location shooting.
Adapted by Alan Plater. Who labelled the money he got from The Fortunes of War for kickstarting his The Beiderbecke trilogy.
With rising starts Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson (both would go on to win Best Screenplay Oscars in later years.) This was a sumptuous drama about a young married couple early in World War II in Romania.
Newlyweds Guy Pringle (Branagh) and Harriet Pringle (Thompson) arrive in Bucharest where he works as a lecturer. Guy is an idealist who cares about people. Harriet is a bit more cynical.
Guy introduces his new wife to the British expatriates and the staff in the British Embassy. The most colourful being Prince Yakimov (Ronald Pickup) a sponger who has become a temporary journalist. The previous one got injured.
The first episode is told in the backdrop of Nazi Germany's expansion into eastern Europe. The Romanian Prime Minister is assassinated and there are right wing sympathisers in government.
The social upheaval is also bad news for the local Jewish population. One prominent Jewish businessman is rounded up, Guy taught his son.
With the cast, this is a very well acted drama. Pickup very much steals the show as Yakimov.
Plater simplifies the dense drama by concentrating on how some of the characters are affected by the changing political fortunes.
Adapted by Alan Plater. Who labelled the money he got from The Fortunes of War for kickstarting his The Beiderbecke trilogy.
With rising starts Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson (both would go on to win Best Screenplay Oscars in later years.) This was a sumptuous drama about a young married couple early in World War II in Romania.
Newlyweds Guy Pringle (Branagh) and Harriet Pringle (Thompson) arrive in Bucharest where he works as a lecturer. Guy is an idealist who cares about people. Harriet is a bit more cynical.
Guy introduces his new wife to the British expatriates and the staff in the British Embassy. The most colourful being Prince Yakimov (Ronald Pickup) a sponger who has become a temporary journalist. The previous one got injured.
The first episode is told in the backdrop of Nazi Germany's expansion into eastern Europe. The Romanian Prime Minister is assassinated and there are right wing sympathisers in government.
The social upheaval is also bad news for the local Jewish population. One prominent Jewish businessman is rounded up, Guy taught his son.
With the cast, this is a very well acted drama. Pickup very much steals the show as Yakimov.
Plater simplifies the dense drama by concentrating on how some of the characters are affected by the changing political fortunes.
