The Casual Vacancy 

The citizens of the small British town of Pagford fight for the spot on the parish council after Barry Fairbrother (Rory Kinnear) dies.

Stars:

Silas Carson, Joe Hurst, Michael Gambon

3 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Silas Carson	...	Vikram Jawanda 3 episodes, 2015
Joe Hurst	...	Andrew 'Arf' Price 3 episodes, 2015
Michael Gambon	...	Howard Mollison 3 episodes, 2015
Rory Kinnear	...	Barry Fairbrother 3 episodes, 2015
Abigail Lawrie	...	Krystal Weedon 3 episodes, 2015
Emily Bevan	...	Mary Fairbrother 3 episodes, 2015
Rufus Jones	...	Miles Mollison 3 episodes, 2015
Richard Glover	...	Simon Price 3 episodes, 2015
Monica Dolan	...	Tess Wall 3 episodes, 2015
Julia McKenzie	...	Shirley Mollison 3 episodes, 2015
Lolita Chakrabarti	...	Parminder Jawanda 3 episodes, 2015
Bryce Sanders	...	Robbie Weedon 3 episodes, 2015
Ria Choony	...	Sukhvinder Jawanda 3 episodes, 2015
Keeley Hawes	...	Samantha Mollison 3 episodes, 2015
Sonny Ashbourne Serkis	...	Paul Price 3 episodes, 2015
Brian Vernel	...	Stuart 'Fats' Wall 3 episodes, 2015
Simon McBurney	...	Colin Wall 3 episodes, 2015
Keeley Forsyth	...	Terri Weedon 3 episodes, 2015
Hetty Baynes	...	Mo Johnson 3 episodes, 2015
Michele Austin	...	Kaye Bawden 3 episodes, 2015
Menna Trussler	...	Betty 3 episodes, 2015
Marie Critchley	...	Ruth Price 3 episodes, 2015
Simona Brown	...	Gaia Bawden 3 episodes, 2015
Mary Roscoe	...	Monica the Librarian / ... 3 episodes, 2015
Sope Dirisu	...	Young Doctor 3 episodes, 2015
Hayley Downing	...	Lexi Mollison 2 episodes, 2015
Lauren Downing	...	Libby Mollison 2 episodes, 2015
Vass Anderson	...	Bill 2 episodes, 2015
Emilia Fox	...	Julia Sweetlove 2 episodes, 2015
Julian Wadham	...	Aubrey Sweetlove 2 episodes, 2015
Sam Redford	...	Obbo 2 episodes, 2015
Pascal Laurent	...	Death 2 episodes, 2015
Alex Lowe	...	Copper 2 episodes, 2015
Derek Hutchinson	...	Vicar 2 episodes, 2015
Jacob Krichefski	...	Mr. Meacher 2 episodes, 2015
Elizabeth Rider	...	Maggie 2 episodes, 2015

Storyline

When Parish Councilman Barry Fairbrother (Rory Kinnear) unexpectedly dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock. An English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, Pagford is not what it first seems. What lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war - rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, and teachers at war with their pupils. And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest battle the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity, and unexpected revelations?

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Plot Keywords:

parish council | competition | rivals | vacant seat | murder | 

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Taglines:

Based on the novel by J.K. Rowling.

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Genres:

Drama

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Did You Know?

Trivia

J.K. Rowling was the Executive Producer for this mini-series, as well as being the author of the novel.

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Connections

Featured in Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe: Episode #10.6 (2015)

User Reviews

Life of muggles

JK Rowling's The Casual Vacancy, a grim adult novel which she wrote under pseudonym looks at life in a small market town of Pagford dominated by grotesque characters like they stepped out of an updated Dickens novel. I have heard it said that the book is also inspired by the play, An Inspector Calls, where various characters in the village are in effect the Birling family who have been responsible to the ruin of a young girl's life.

Michael Gambon is the power mad, money grabbing parish councillor who wants to turn a community centre into a wellness spa. Julia McKenzie plays his malicious wife and Keeley Hawes is the flirty but brittle daughter in law. Rory Kinnear is the one who has fought against the closure of the community centre and whose sudden death create the casual vacancy in the parish council and Gambon wants his spineless son to stand and others also wish to contest the seat but a ghost writer on the internet is revealing some home truths.

Yet Pagford is not a place just for the haves. Poverty is rife as well as drugs, drink, teenage sex and domestic violence. This is also the story of teenager Krystal Weedon, living with a drug addicted mother and looking after a baby brother with social workers hot on their trail.

The three part drama series is a world away from Harry Potter. I know my daughter, a Rowling fan attempted to read The Casual Vacancy but gave up, it was not her kind of book. The series has a bittersweet and grim tone. It is political in context between the haves and haves not, the latter who are getting the rug pulled from under their feet.

However the series was not wholly a success, maybe lacking humour, satire and maybe some comeuppance against some horrible people. I believe the ending was changed and softened to make it less tragic from the novel. However I felt that the series would had worked better as a two hours television film and maybe done with being less star studded, Emilia Fox for example was wasted.

What is not in doubt is that Abigail Lawrie was outstanding as Krystal.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 April 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Casual Vacancy

Filming Locations:

Northleach, Gloucestershire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bronte Film and TV, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Home Box Office (HBO)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

180 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1