Pilot 

1956. Bel Rowley and Freddie Lyon, BBC reporters and best friends, apply to join a new current affairs program. Meanwhile, Freddie is asked to investigate a murder.

Director:

Coky Giedroyc

Writer:

Abi Morgan (written and created by)

Stars:

Ben Whishaw, Joshua McGuire, Nick Caldecott

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Ben Whishaw	...	Freddie Lyon
Joshua McGuire	...	Isaac Wengrow
Nick Caldecott	...	Johnny - Newsreader
Vanessa Kirby	...	Ruth Elms
Andrew Scott	...	Adam Le Ray
Romola Garai	...	Bel Rowley
Anna Chancellor	...	Lix Storm
Jamie Parker	...	Peter Darrall
Burn Gorman	...	Thomas Kish
Juliet Stevenson	...	Lady Elms
Jason Watkins	...	George Hemmings
Tim Pigott-Smith	...	Lord Elms
Colin Spaull	...	Newsagent
Amie Francis	...	Cloakroom Girl
Robert Demeger	...	Malcolm Lyon

Storyline

In 1956, pushy young BBC TV reporter Freddie Lyon, bored with covering celebrity banquets and debutantes' weddings, applies, with his more self-effacing colleague Bel Rowley, to be on the new news magazine series 'The Hour' but loses out on the job of presenter to the suave, older Hector Madden. Bel however is given the producer's job and uses this to engage Freddie as home affairs correspondent with an assistant, would-be sketch writer Isaac Wengow. Dauntless foreign correspondent Lix Storm, who reported on the Spanish Civil War, also joins the team. A man called Peter Darrall has been stabbed to death on the London underground and, whilst the police treat this as a robbery, newly-wed debutante Hon. Ruth Elms, daughter of Lord Elms, is unconvinced and asks her childhood friend Freddie to investigate. On the night of 'The Hour''s launch party, Freddie gets an urgent phone call from Ruth, whom he finds hanged.

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Plot Keywords:

party | reference to john f. kennedy | reference to dwight d. eisenhower | reference to martin luther king jr. | tuxedo | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

TV-14

Did You Know?

Trivia

At one point Ben Whishaw's character Freddie calls Bel (Romola Garai) Moneypenny, a reference to the James Bond series. Within six months of the episode airing Whishaw was cast as Q in the latest James Bond movie Skyfall (2012), a film which would reintroduce the character of Moneypenny played by Naomie Harris after being absent for the previous two Daniel Craig Bond films.

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Goofs

The expression "the Devil's in the details" (a modern variation of "God is in the detail") was not invented until the early Seventies and did not come into general use until much later still.

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Connections

References The Sooty Show (1968)

User Reviews

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 August 2011 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Alexandra Palace, Alexandra Palace Way, Muswell Hill, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kudos Film and Television, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), BBC America

Technical Specs

Runtime:

59 min

Color:

Color