Following the award-winning success of his adaptation of Anthony Trollope's
The Way We Live Now, Andrew Davies brings a surprisingly new perspective
in his reworking of Trollope's searing novel, He Knew He Was Right.
"This is an unusual Trollope," says Davies. "A dark and edgy central
story about a young glamorous couple whose marriage goes disastrously
wrong because of the husband's insecurity and jealousy.
"It feels startlingly modern - it's Trollope's take on the Othello
story, and the subject of sexual jealousy is a timeless and universal
one. Almost all of us have had experience of it by the time we've grown
up."
Jane Tranter, 大象传媒 Controller of Drama Commissioning, says "Andrew
Davies brings to He Knew He Was Right the same modern resonance which
he brought to the world of business and finance in The Way We Live Now.
"Oliver Dimsdale and Laura Fraser are perfectly cast as this beautiful,
madly in love young couple who, through a kernel of mistrust and lack
of communication, head inexorably for disaster."
A fresh young cast of talented actors brings the tale to life:
Oliver Dimsdale, recently seen as the poet Shelley
in Byron, is Louis Trevelyan, a young man who refuses to believe his
wife is not having an affair;
Laura Fraser, star of the forthcoming movie 16 Years
of Alcohol, is his spirited independent wife Emily, the epitome of a
very modern heroine;
Christina Cole plays her sister Nora, who has to choose
between marrying for money or marrying for love and
Stephen Campbell Moore, one of the stars of Stephen
Fry's Bright Young Things and Byron, is Hugh Stanbury, one of the suitors
competing against the odds for Nora's hand in marriage.
Alongside the dark and thrilling central story, the drama also has
great wit and warmth, provided by a cast of strongly-drawn characters
whose stories reflect the central theme of human relationships.
The proud and ridiculous Reverend Gibson (David Tennant)
struggles to choose between sisters Arabella and Camilla French (Fenella
Woolgar, Claudie Blakley), who are both desperate
to marry him; the fiercely comic Aunt Stanbury (Anna Massey)
is never happier than when meddling in the affairs of others; and the
incomparable Bozzle (Ron Cook) is one of fiction's
first and most memorably seedy private eyes.
Bill Nighy, fresh from his success in State of Play
and Love Actually, is the devilish Colonel Osborne, a man whose reputation
leaves no lady safe; Patsy Palmer makes a rare foray
into period drama as Bozzle's wife; and a strong supporting cast includes
Geoffrey Palmer, Geraldine James,
John Alderton, Joanna David and James
Bolam.
Davies says: "He Knew He Was Right is about a strong woman who is
seeking to make her own decisions and lead her own life, and a rather
fragile man who can't stand up to her.
"That strikes all sorts of chords today. I detect a crisis of
confidence in men as women are succeeding at everything.
"This novel has a lot of confident women discovering themselves
and making their own choices.
"Most 19th century novels tend not to deal with marriage at all,"
Davies continues. "It's got lots of modern parallels, such as a husband
abducting his son and taking him abroad.
"The audience will recognise all sorts of ways the conflict develops
as the behaviour of the couple is the sort we see today in divorce courts
and read about in tabloid newspapers.
"This novel also has some of the richest comic characters and one
of the funniest sub-plots that I've ever come across.
"The story of Mr Gibson, the unreliable young vicar who flirts
with the two silly French sisters without any apparent intention of
becoming betrothed to either of them, is inspired. His comeuppance is
brilliantly funny."
Although Davies was a lecturer in English literature before he became
a full time writer in the 1970s, by his own admission he came late to
the works of Anthony Trollope.
"Through the 70s and 80s I'd greatly enjoyed watching The Pallisers
and The Barchester Chronicles on television without particularly wanting
to read the books.
"I got into Trollope through his more unusual novels - The Way
We Live Now and He Knew He Was Right are not typical of his work, but
I'm becoming a straightforward fan and I'm really looking forward to
gradually reading his entire output."
Which means Davies will make his way through Trollope's 47 books.
"Trollope seems to have preferred women who were gentle, like his docile
dutiful wife. However, in his middle years he travelled a lot and fell
in love with a very vivacious, emancipated young American girl called
Kate Field. He lost his heart to her, although they only had a sentimental,
platonic friendship.
"He found American women fascinating but scary. He was used to
women who kept what he considered to be their place. These fiery women
with strong opinions who'd argue like a man were very attractive to
him, if also a little bit daunting.
"The problem for Louis is that Emily's independence damages his virility.
It unmans him: he can't get it up any more because he's scared of his
wife. It would be more appropriate for Louis to be called the name of
Nora's first suitor, Mr Glascock, because his sense of his own manhood
is so fragile!"
Andrew Davies teamed up again with producer Nigel Stafford-Clark, a
successful partnership that followed their collaboration on the Bafta-award
winning The Way We Live Now.
Stafford-Clark says: "Trollope moves the story with extraordinary speed
for the 19th century novel, and switches the point of view between the
two protagonists.
"Since it's a tiny misunderstanding that causes the marriage to
founder, it's obviously important to see how both sides think - the
title is clearly ironic."
The four-part serial features 25 main characters and six storylines,
so casting was a mammoth task for Stafford-Clark and director, Tom Vaughan.
"At the core of the story is a group of very young people and what
happens to them is partly a result of their youth and inexperience of
life," says Stafford-Clark.
"We were looking for something specific in the actors who play Louis
and Emily. Louis has a fragile quality combined with a steely determination.
"Emily is spirited, but when she's under attack she mustn't sound
whining or resentful. She's as determined as her husband and does not
give in as she has not betrayed him.
"The tragedy is that Louis becomes terrified of the woman she
is and destroys the very thing he fell in love with."
Stafford-Clark knew he'd found the right Louis as soon as Oliver Dimsdale
walked through the door, but the search for Emily proved much harder
than first thought, as the director Michael Mann had expressed interest
in his first choice, Laura Fraser, for a film with Tom Cruise.
"Luckily for us, they kept her on hold for so long that she decided
to take the role of Emily."
The 12-week shoot took place during one of the hottest summers on record.
Magnificent country houses such as West Wycombe Park, Waddesdon Manor
and Disraeli's house, Hughenden Manor, were used, as well as locations
in the West Country.
"The coup for us was finding Wells and its cathedral green which hasn't
been used for filming before. The Mayor gave a reception for the whole
cast and crew when we arrived, and the Bishop invited us to tea." says
Stafford-Clark.
"At West Wycombe Park, on the hottest day of the year, we had lots
of extras in heavy petticoats, corsets and Victorian dresses.
"Outside the costume and make-up marquees there was a line of
pretty young girls sitting with their skirts hitched up to their waists,
all on their mobile phones to their boyfriends saying, 'You will not
believe what I'm wearing!' It was the most bizarre sight."
He Knew He Was Right is a 大象传媒 Wales/WGH Boston co-production in association
with Deep Indigo and is directed by Tom Vaughan, whose credits include
Cold Feet, I Saw You and Final Demand.
Executive Producers for the 大象传媒 are Sally Haynes, Bill Boyes and Laura
Mackie and Executive Producer for WGBH is Rebecca Eaton.
The four-part series is complemented by the drama documentary The
Two Loves of Anthony Trollope, narrated by Stephen Fry.
It gives a rare glimpse into the inner world of Anthony Trollope,
one of Britain's most prolific and enduring writers.
There were two women at the heart of Trollope's life - Rose, his devoted
wife, and Kate Field, a young American feminist with whom Trollope had
a long friendship and infatuation.
Through this friendship Trollope's female characters began to change
quite dramatically from the 1860s onwards, culminating in Kate's personification
in He Knew He Was Right, as the attractive and independent young American
Caroline Spalding.
The Two Loves of Anthony Trollope is produced by Richard Downes.
听
He Knew He Was Right begins on 大象传媒 ONE on Sunday 18 April at
9.00pm, with part two following at 10.00pm on 大象传媒 FOUR.
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