Mr. Harvey Lights a Candle

Mr. Harvey Lights a Candle

Mr. Harvey Lights a Candle is a television drama, written by Rhidian Brook and directed by Susanna White, which originally aired in 2005 on BBC.[1]

Mr. Harvey Lights a Candle tells the story of a school outing, with a bunch of uncontrollable fifth-formers and three teachers from a London comprehensive school, to Salisbury Cathedral. The children show no interest in the purpose of the trip, and are even indifferent towards a view of Stonehenge which they pass on the way: "a boring pile of stones... perhaps we could sell it". The pupils even get more excited by all the things on offer at a motorway service station they stop at on the way.

The teacher behind the trip, a plump, middle-aged and reticent Mr. Harvey (Timothy Spall), prepares fact sheets about the Cathedral for the pupils, but even the other two teachers (Miss Davies, played by Celia Imrie, and Mr. Cole, played by Ben Miles) see little point in the trip. The bunch of kids is a cross-section of multi-cultural London. Two particular outsiders are a Muslim boy (Mo, played by Joshua Malin) and a pretty-yet-vain girl (Helen, played by Natalie Press), who turns out to have little self-esteem, letting boys have sex with her and making cuts in her own wrist.

It transpires that Mr. Harvey organised the trip to coincide with the 21st anniversary of his last trip to the cathedral, the day when he proposed to the woman who became his wife. He carries in his wallet a fading photo of the very moment when they got engaged. One of the boys steals his wallet. Helen takes the photo from the wallet, defaces the photo and passes it around the coach for the other pupils to see, to their amusement. Mr. Harvey suspects that one of the pupils had stolen his wallet, but doesn't know who, and confronts Helen, grabbing her and revealing her cut wrists.

When the group finally arrives at Salisbury Cathedral, and the pupils have got out the coach, Mr. Harvey finds the photo - now defaced. He is beside himself with grief and rage. But once inside the cathedral, instead of the expected tour of the building, Mr. Harvey tells the pupils about how his wife had killed herself a year after they had got married.

The pupils are silenced by his story: he has come to terms with his past during the trip, as well as opening up to his colleagues and pupils about the events which had had a profound effect on his life.[2]

References



Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Jade Ewen — performing live in 2011. Background information Birth name Jade Almarie Louise Ewen Born …   Wikipedia

  • Celia Imrie — Infobox actor imagesize = 150px birthname = Celia Diana Savile Imrie birthdate = birth date and age|1952|7|15|df=yes birthplace = Guildford, Surrey, England occupation = Actress yearsactive = 1973 ndash;present website =… …   Wikipedia

  • Jody Latham — Infobox actor name = Jody Latham caption = birthname = Jody Latham birthdate = 1 January 1982 birthplace = Burnley, England deathdate = deathplace = restingplace = restingplacecoordinates = othername = Jody Lee Latham occupation = Actor,… …   Wikipedia

  • Nathalie Press — Natalie Press (born 15 August 1980, London, UK) is an acclaimed English actress, perhaps best known for her award winning performance in the 2004 film My Summer of Love and a number of short and feature length independent films, including Wasp ,… …   Wikipedia

  • Natalie Press — Born 15 August 1980 North London Natalie Press (born 15 August 1980) is an English actress, perhaps best known for her award winning performance in the 2004 film My Summer of Love and a number of short and feature length independent films,… …   Wikipedia

  • Имри, Селия — Селия Имри Дата рождения: 15 июля 1952(1952 07 15) (60 лет) Профессия: актриса Карьера: 1973 наст. время …   Википедия

  • Брэдли, Дэвид (актёр, Великобритания) — Эта статья о английском актёре Дэвиде Брэдли. Другие люди, носящие то же имя, перечислены на стр. Дэвид Брэдли Дэвид Брэдли David Bradley …   Википедия

  • Timothy Spall — Infobox actor imagesize = 200 caption = Spall filming Enchanted in New York City, March 2007 birthdate = Birth date and age|1957|2|27|df=y birthname = Timothy Leonard Spall birthplace = Battersea, London, England academyawards = spouse = Shane… …   Wikipedia

  • Salisbury Cathedral — Infobox UK cathedral building name =Salisbury Cathedral infobox width = image size = caption =Salisbury Cathedral from the northeast map type = map size = map caption = location =Salisbury full name =Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary… …   Wikipedia

  • David Bradley (actor) — For the actor who starred in Kes, see Dai Bradley. David Bradley Bradley in 2009 Born 17 April 1942 (1942 04 17) (age 69) York …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”