Any Human Heart (2010– )

A novelist's life ricochets from 1920s Paris to '50s New York and '80s London. Along the way he meets Ernest Hemingway, Ian Fleming and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor - the exiled British king and his mistress Wallis Simpson.

Stars:

Jim Broadbent, Matthew Macfadyen, Conor Nealon

Nominated for 4 Primetime Emmys. Another 4 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Jim Broadbent	...	Logan Mountstuart (Older) (4 episodes, 2010)
Matthew Macfadyen	...	Logan Mountstuart (Middle) (4 episodes, 2010)
Conor Nealon	...	Logan Mountstuart (Child) (4 episodes, 2010)
Hayley Atwell	...	Freya Deverell (4 episodes, 2010)
Sam Claflin	...	Logan Mountstuart (Young) (4 episodes, 2010)
Ed Stoppard	...	Ben Leeping (Older) (4 episodes, 2010)
Samuel West	...	Peter Scabius (Older) (4 episodes, 2010)
Julian Ovenden	...	Ernest Hemingway (3 episodes, 2010)
Ken Bones	...	Mr. Mountstuart (3 episodes, 2010)
Flaminia Cinque	...	Mrs. Mountstuart (3 episodes, 2010)
Emerald Fennell	...	Lottie (3 episodes, 2010)
Gillian Anderson	...	Duchess Of Windsor (3 episodes, 2010)
Tom Hollander	...	Duke Of Windsor (3 episodes, 2010)
Kim Cattrall	...	Gloria Scabius (2 episodes, 2010)
Holliday Grainger	...	Tess Scabius (2 episodes, 2010)
Hugh Skinner	...	Lionel Mounstuart (2 episodes, 2010)
Stéphane Dausse	...	Cyprien (2 episodes, 2010)
Rupert Vansittart	...	The Earl (2 episodes, 2010)
Yolanda Vazquez	...	Encarnacion (2 episodes, 2010)
Freddie Fox	...	Peter Scabius (Young) (2 episodes, 2010)
James Musgrave	...	Ben Leeping (Young) (2 episodes, 2010)
Kulvinder Ghir	...	Subadar Singh (2 episodes, 2010)
Tobias Menzies	...	Ian Fleming (2 episodes, 2010)
Poppy Epstein	...	Stella (Age 6) (2 episodes, 2010)
Richard Schiff	...	Dr. Byrne (2 episodes, 2010)

Storyline

A novelist's life ricochets from 1920s Paris to '50s New York and '80s London. Along the way he meets Ernest Hemingway, Ian Fleming and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor - the exiled British king and his mistress Wallis Simpson.

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Plot Keywords:

ernest hemingway | memoir | author | 1940s | title same as book | 

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

2010 (UK)

Also Known As:

Any Human Heart - Eines Menschen Herz

Filming Locations:

Knebworth House, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Carnival Films, Channel Four Television, Masterpiece

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The music used in Channel 4's promotional trailers is "Einaudi: Nightbook" from the album 'Nightbook' by Ludovico Einaudi.

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Connections

Featured in The Wright Stuff: Episode #14.75 (2010)

User Reviews

Logan Mountstuart is Everyman.

William Boyd has shown himself to be one of the finest readers & chroniclers of the Human Condition writing today. It is almost a badge of honour that he has not won an award from one of the product placement companies. My first exposure to his work was a short-story called "The Persistence of Vision" - a perfect gem. Whenever I get depressed with the current offerings in the shops, I revert and, within seconds, I am transported. If I were to say that the life of Logan Mountstuart parallels my own to an almost spooky degree, it is not to say that I have played golf with some HRH & had my matches nicked. I have never jumped from an airplane or worked as a spy. One thing is certain: William Boyd is a far better writer than Ernest Hemingway ever was.

Today, like Logan Mountstuart, as I sort out photographs and ancient family papers, I find - often depressing - aspects of that earlier life, the appalling personal loss of a loved one, letters of despair. Here and there a picture drawn by a loved child.

As I said, Mountstuart is Everyman. He was not a bold boy; nor a bad man. He was easily led, but he is a good man; honourable, in a way that Peter Scabius was false. And so, Boyd leads us alongside this fallible man; while we, on occasion, find ourselves aching to say to him "Don't!" It would be better to read the book in the first instance; the screenplay follows the same sequence and one is more prepared for the jump-shifts in time. It is what I call a satisfying read; what I would like to write if I had the talent.

The acting is universally faithful to the characters, especially Matthew Mac Fadyean, who is utterly convincing & sympathetic.

If the producers are going to transfer this to DVD, please keep it intact, as they did in the excellent VHS version of "Armadillo" - which suffered badly in the compressed version, on DVD.

It is supremely gratifying to find that there is an audience who can relate to great drama; who have the patience to follow a complex storyline and debate its merits or otherwise. Sunday is going to seem empty when it ends.