The Roads to Freedom (1970) User Reviews

never mind the conspiracy nonsense let us discuss the actual programme

[ib011f9545i · 7/10 · 9 August 2022]

I have to laugh.

Lots of people on IMDB and elsewhere going on about how it is a disgrace that the BBC have wiped the tapes (not true) or that there is some conspiracy about not repeating it.

Well it is getting repeated and am watching it.

The series cover a lot of controversial topics and this combined with the dated look of the production might be reasons why it has not been repeated till now.

All these people raving about how much they love this thing but they can't be bothered to review it?

I was 10 in 1970 for the first showing and 16 for the 1977 repeat.

I am sure I never saw it either time.

I do recall being 10/11 and watching ITV's Manhunt which also had adult situations and due to when it was made looks odd to modern viewers just as this production does.

But I have to say this is a very enjoyable viewing experience.

I read the books years ago and am obsessed with French history anyway so am loving watching this.

The plot is easy to follow and the acting is nearly always excellent.

As in the books of this trilogy the plot is mainly a device for the author to exercise his philosophy ideas.

But any viewer might find the debates interesting.

The viewer does not have to be a WW2 nut or a philosophy student to get gripped by the story.

The BBC have found the tapes

[jonlange-30026 · 7/10 · 3 August 2022]

If you're lucky enough to live in the UK, the BBC have started repeating this enthralling drama, which in hindsight we can say was ahead of its time as it deals with some unsavoury themes but is made watchable by the superb acting. A bit slow perhaps, for our youngsters today, but for those who remember British TV when there were only three channels, this series proved highly entertaining. A commendable effort and glad to have a chance to view it again.

Just watching it again

[marktayloruk · 9/10 · 10 August 2022]

I remembered the original and am enjoying the remake. Now being rather amused by French soldiers talking about a United Europe, having been previously amused by that pompous officer! Can hardly blame the soldiers for being demoralised with the kind of leadership they'd had!

A very serious but grippingly entertaining TV series

[charmech · 8 March 2002]

I watched every episode of this wonderful serial (13 weeks) as it was broadcast. It was one of the best dramatizations the BBC ever did, and although the book it was based on was a classic of French literature and political thought(likely to be dull and stuffy and utterly boring I would have guessed), the brilliance of the script, direction and acting brought it to life in a most enthralling manner. I wish they would show it again on one of the cable channels. Superb TV drama.

I thought it was just me

[mark-kimber · 10/10 · 13 May 2008]

it's pretty strange reading these remarks, something of an 'I thought it was just me' moment.

I saw the series as a teenager, had never even heard of Sartre, but the series just captivated me.

I still sing the theme music to myself and remember little snippets of action and dialogue - the knife through the hand, the wrestling match between a man and his teenage lover.

anyhow, the BFI definitely have a copy in their archive goodness only knows how that helps

maybe we should try to lobby BBC4 or something

THE WAIT IS OVER

[poolstead-56328 · 10/10 · 19 July 2022]

The BBC are to start repeating this classic series on BBC4 from Wednesday July.27 2022! So folks set your recorders can hardly believe this is happening! A truly wonderful tv series that after 50 years I can still remember vividly. I was 15 years old at time and had never seen anything like this before. It starts with Mathieu ( Michael Bryant) being told by his mistress Marcelle ( Rosemary Leach) that she is pregnant. He is not happy feeling loosing control of his life. The music, is haunting and unforgettable as is Georgia Brown and Daniel Massey as a sadistic homosexual. The wait is over ENJOY.

Roads to Freedom

[weststorm · 10/10 · 30 June 2007]

I was 15 at the time and living with my ex-pat family from England in California, where I watched Roads to Freedom via Masterpiece Theatre on PBS television.

This show used to draw conversation with my friends and myself at our high school art class each week; to whether or not we saw the current episode, and to what we thought of it. My family only had a black and white TV at the time; however, I remember watching it in colour also at my best friends home; whom also, by the way, remembers the show and it's theme.

The theme, believe it or not, I still have on an old audio tape somewhere in a cluttered draw. When the first tape cassette recorders came out, I got one for Christmas, and I taped the theme to Roads to Freedom by holding up a microphone in front of the television speaker.

Home video recorders were not readily available to most consumers back in 1970/71, and if there were any obscure models about, they would have been unaffordable for most people, and probably technically crude in their quality of recording. Still, however, I believe that there may still be some hope in the recovery of all of those lost episodes from Roads to Freedom; even if the BBC did in fact erase them from their archives forever. The reason for this assumption, is because the BBC exported copies of this production abroad, as I was indeed a regular viewer when I resided in the US as a teenager, so I know this for a fact; and I would suspect that the programme would have been exported to other countries also, So, if the BBC did delete this programme; the possibility still stands that their could be copies elsewhere in the world in some archive vault; PBS, perhaps.

Before I close, I would like to make a comment about EwanScott's entry about Roads to Freedom being the flagship programme which announced the start of BBC 2. BBC 2 was launched in 1964, not in 1970/71 Or could it be that he was referring to the first show to start the evening broadcast?

Wonderful adaptation

[massonsara · 10/10 · 13 May 2012]

I've just come from watching all 13 episodes over the weekend at the BFI. The new prints from the BBC were good, even very good. The whole series was subtle and intelligent and wonderfully directed. It did not feel to me to have dated at all. It should be shown again on the BBC at the earliest opportunity. The acting is uniformly excellent, and it was so moving to see Michael Bryant, Georgia Brown, Daniel Massey, and so many other great actors who have now left the stage, as the French put it. Great too that James Cellan Jones was with us for the screenings, as were Rosemary Leach, Roger Lloyd Pack and Vernon Dobtcheff. What an honour to view it in their company! I was too young to watch it when it was shown in 1970, but it had a huge effect on my father and consequently on me. Michael Bryant's and Daniel Massey's acting turned my father on to the theatre and we subsequently saw almost everything that they appeared in on the stage. Thank you BFI, and come on BBC!

Update - the series exists, lets make it available for everyone

[Favourini · 10/10 · 21 February 2015]

Just to clarify for anyone reading these reviews.

The whole of the Roads to Freedom series exists and was screened as a one-off at the BFI in May, 2012. The tapes were never wiped, contrary to rumours.

Since 2012 then there has been nothing from the BBC about making the series available on DVD, and they are not responding to enquiries.

I have written an article about the whole story on my blog here:

http://emeraldlamp.blogspot.co.uk

It includes links to the petition, and to Georgia Brown singing the theme.

My particular concern is that, as well as those of us who desperately want to see it again, there is a whole generation of younger people who have been prevented from seeing a significant work of dramatic art. They won't have even heard of the series.

We need to keep up the pressure on the BBC.

PLease release this, BBC

[penelopeburton-991-662225 · 10/10 · 14 May 2012]

Well done to the BFI for showing this over the last weekend. One surprise was seeing it in colour; I only had a B&W set when I saw this wonderful series in the seventies.

I think it stands up well and would be well-received as a DVD. There are stunning performances from Michael Bryant, Daniel Massey, Rosemary Leach, Alison Fiske, Georgia Brown, Andrew Faulds, Norman Rossington and many more.

Wartime Paris is wonderfully evoked. The night-club scenes with Lols (Georgia Brown) are better than any other film versions I have seen (Cabaret, anyone?) especially when she chooses to sing Kurt Weill (Mack the Knife).

Please lobby the BBC to issue a DVD of this!

This should be available on DVD

[jbinfo · 10/10 · 3 June 2008]

An excellent TV series from the BBC based on Jean-Paul Sartre's trilogy.

I am sure that B&W is an issue, but it was not a problem.

Great acting throughout. Being based on books by JPS can't hurt.

The characters of Mathieu, Daniel, Marcelle and not forgetting Russian Ivich were particularly interesting.

Some really memorable scenes; nearly forty-years on I can still recall two or three of them quite vividly.

So come on BBC, let's see this brilliant series again, from the era when the Beeb was really on the top of it's game (you know: The Wednesday Play etc.).

À la recherche du temps perdu / The Roads to Misanthropy

[frukuk · 1/10 · 25 August 2022]

So many reviews saying how significantly good this seemed when it was first broadcast in 1970. But watching this for the first time in 2022, I found it severely disappointing.

Perhaps it's the source material, with which I'm not familiar, that's at fault? The theatricality of the performances certainly makes it hard to take the characters seriously. And everyone who is apparently searching for freedom, seems to be languishing in selfishness and misanthropy.

I watched the first three episodes, but that was as much as I could take. (If you want something similar but better, I'd recommend reading The Fall by Albert Camus -- far more interesting and thought provoking than this offering.)

Where are the tapes, BBC?

[jogardiner · 29 March 2003]

The BBC's adaptation of Sartre's trilogy was a work of art (not a label I would often attach to a TV series). It was repeated in 1976/77, which is when I saw it . A long time ago, but hardly ancient history in TV terms - for example, I saw that 'Elizabeth R', which was first broadcast around the same time as The Roads to Freedom, is currently getting a re-run on one of the digital channels.

So where are the tapes? What has the BBC done with them? Why has the best TV drama ever made not been seen for nearly 30 years? I think we should be told.

If anyone, anywhere, managed to tape the series, they should make a fortune, as there are so many people I know who are desperate to see it again, having been powerfully affected by it in their youth.

Would it have dated if shown again now? I don't think so. Quality lasts. And think of the subject matter - commitment versus freedom, abortion, homosexuality, politics, sex, nightlife, the passions and preoccupations of individuals overshadowed by a looming war. How dated is that?

If anyone knows anything about what happened to the tapes of this series, or would be interested in joining me in forcing the BBC to give us some sensible answers, please email me.

neither gone nor forgotten

[muswellmovies · 10/10 · 2 December 2010]

I am sorry to have missed the BFI show mentioned here but luckily had the opportunity to see the entire series recently.(no I can't get you a copy!) The material does exist so it's really a question of letting the BBC know that there is an audience waiting to see this gem of a series and hoping they can navigate the rights issues to put it out on DVD. If you are familiar with the original books you will know that it spans the years leading up to the outbreak of war and the occupation of Paris following the interlinked lives of a group of people centred around the character of Mathieu a lecturer at the Sorbonne. The TV series condenses and omits some of the incidents in the book, most notably the ending which gives the book a very different slant to the TV series. Some of the adaptation is due to the budget which is obviously limited but also the decision to concentrate on certain characters. The series manages to give a very convincing feeling of the time and location. The real strengths however are the original material and the casting and performances which are note perfect. Others have mentioned the haunting theme delivered beautifully by Georgia Brown which never palls even watching 13 episodes in a row.

The revealing descriptions of Daniel's self-loathing and self-torture.

[emirates-16-599812 · 10/10 · 1 April 2011]

I was a naive 22 year old at the time and knew very little about homosexuality or how homosexuals behaved, other than the comedy "camping it up" of Are You Being Served?'s Mr Humphreys and Dick Emery's "Ooh You are Awful". The portrayal of Daniel Massey's Daniel shocked me into understanding a little bit. I remember that the proximity and smell of a female made him feel physically sick, but he would force himself to get close to Rosemary Leach's Marcelle as a form of torture/punishment. Also when seeking a male "one night stand" he would go for the most sleazy, again punishing himself into self contempt for what he was. How differently the gay community is portrayed today!

'The Reprieve' at least does exist

[krwebster55 · 10/10 · 23 September 2010]

Just a heads up. The previous post here was mostly accurate in that the episodes which dealt with **second** book in the trilogy THE REPRIEVE will be shown at the BFI on 3rd October 2010. I have my tickets.

And so does the rest exist and what is being done to let the public see them? Oh and as for a review of the original- utterly captivating for a 15yr old never before exposed to this sort of quality production. I can still recall the episodes in the bell tower of the church and the profoundly unsettling effect of the theme tune ... so long ago but it led to reading Sartre and much else besides from the period Not many seats left for the 3rd. Hope you make it

Roads to Freedom

[finnp1972 · 10/10 · 19 August 2014]

just joined here 19/8/2014 Has anyone discovered any recordings still existing? I would dearly love to see the series again-the road to find it again definitely seems hard!

I was 14 when I watched this (and read it) Fantastic Even a remake would be no use. You don't have to be a Marxist Existentialist to appreciate it all its wonderful plus points

All the actors were great and what can one say about Georgia Brown singing

I read that the BFI may still have a copy-Is that true they have a copy?

From its atmosphere to the actual stories it is one of the diamonds of television

The BFI apparently showed it 2 yrs ago

[kischrissie · 10/10 · 13 April 2015]

The Tapes have NOT been destroyed-get someone at the BBC to offer a proper explanation-they seem able enough to re run virtually everything else

Like many others I was young when I watched this and the feeling it gave me remains to this day

Check out the song by Georgia Brown online - it is haunting (ok good French speakers may be a little critical!

If the BFI can show it surely they could stick it on BBc4

I cant post this unless I add more!!!-the road is hard! even for something simple-the books are still with me

Someone with some BBC influence has to get involved-what is the problem was there something in it that would be considered not acceptable nowadays ?

TV with a rare intelligence

[paul2001sw-1 · 8/10 · 29 October 2022]

TV drama was in its relative infancy when the BBC made its adaptation of Jean-Paul Sarte's semi-autobiographical novels; and the setting for the story, now set almost ninety years in the past, was then within living memory of many. Watching the series now is interesting because not only has the production dated, but so has its subject matter. And yes, the series is talky, mostly studio-shot, there's little use of background music or clever inter-cutting of scenes. But the underlying intelligence of the material cannot be denied, and it's really interesting to see the way the characters think about their lives and (in particular) their sexualities, which is neither Victorian nor at all in alignment with modern sensibilities. For all the superficial brilliance of some modern television, the sort of naked intelligence on display here, put directly before the viewer (instead of being rendered impotent by irony or only evident behind the camera) is something that seems lacking in what we get shown today. And thus, this is still worth watching after almost fifty years.

One of the best TV dramas of all time

[chall-05621 · 10/10 · 3 September 2023]

One of the best TV dramas of all time. I was so glad when the BBC repeated it about a year ago after such a long break. I obviously recorded it and placed it safely on DVD. Brilliant acting, direction and script of the three novels. It proves that quality doesn't have to have a multimillion budget. But this is why the BBC is so precious and why I am so glad to be British. Heaven forbid that we have TV run by advertising executives as it is in the USA. The BBC is needed now more than ever in the new digital age. Lord Reith gave us all something very precious in the British Broadcasting Corporation.

Roads to Freedom

[yateslawrence · 23 December 2004]

The Roads to Freedom was one of those few television series which had a profound effect upon me when I watched them as a teenager on my grandfather's television. I had never heard of Sartre and it was only later that I realised how closely the series followed the books. The atmosphere set was gripping, a nervous world with the threat of war and a world over which they had no control echoed in the lives of the characters. Michael Bryant was magnificent as Mathieu, but there was Ivich (I forget the name of the actress) too. Another writer has mentioned Daniel Massey. In particular, the death of Mathieu haunts me to this day.

This and "Man of Straw" with Derek Jacobi which I believe has been deleted by the BBC I believe to be two of the finest series the BBC has ever shown and I am greatly saddened that I will never see them again.

In response to another's comment - the theme song, "La route est Dur" I am sure was not unaccompanied but had at least a cello accompaniment and maybe an oboe too. I haven't heard it since the last episode of the series (alas, no video recorders in those days!) but would love to find a copy.

Update July 2007 A copy of Georgia Brown singing "La Route est Dur" is available here:

http://www.olimu.com/Readings/LaRouteEstDure.htm

Now we just need to find the lost tapes of the series itself!

Outrageous.

[xrains58 · 10/10 · 16 October 2020]

Doubley do if,as I believe,a BBC s series that we can't buy it on DVD or any format for that matter. If anyone has it on video thousands would love to see it again... politics!

Doesn't disappoint

[Muswellmedia · 26 November 2009]

In common with may other posters I remember this series during its original broadcast as being an example of the kind of TV that before home video and time shifting one would stay home to watch and look forward to. I was disappointed when it was over and there was no more. Even the theme tune haunted me and I have been looking for a copy for years. The excellent casting period atmosphere and tone are sustained throughout the series. Contrary to some posters memory this was produced in colour although that is difficult to tell from the opening credits over a shot of Rodin's "Thinker" which lacks colour. I am less pessimistic about the availability of source material for a DVD release than some others but suspect that the difficulty and expense of negotiating the many rights involved in a re-issue would prove prohibitive. Sadly it would be inconceivable for the BBC to produce something with the same scale and ambition today. Not just because of the costs but because it is a work that is a, Foreign and b, about ideas. We can only hope that the new markets for DVD Internet broadcast and niche channels will eventually make it worthwhile remastering this forgotten masterpiece. In the meanwhile and in the absence of the opportunity to see the series I have re-read the books several times over the years always imagining Michael Bryant as Mathieu.

Would love to see it again

[cronin_clare · 7 May 2004]

Like all the other commenters, I would love to see this - I found it gripping, one of the consistently best dramatisations I've seen on television, and as one person said, it followed the books very closely. Acting, atmosphere, pace, costumes and settings were all superb. I thought Michael Bryant in the lead role was particularly good - he had the right air of worried intelligence. Rosemary Leach, too was good - earthy and vulnerable, and Daniel Massey - tortured and irritable. I've heard the BBC deleted a lot of their old television tapes so unless a private individual has recorded it we're all doomed.

Theme Song (amendment)

[h-simmonds · 27 February 2003]

Memory plays tricks! The title of the song is in fact "La route est dure" - based on a song of the French Resistance (So ignore my previous nonsense). I came across a copy on 7" vinyl. The performance by Georgia Brown is every bit as vivid as I had remembered, raw and impassioned, and way ahead of it's time as TV theme music.