- Disraeli (TV serial)
-
Disraeli is a British mini-series about the great statesman and first Prime Minister of Jewish descent of the United Kingdom, Benjamin Disraeli. It was originally featured on British network ITV. With a screenplay by David Butler, it was produced by Cecil Clarke and directed by Claude Whatham. It focused on Disraeli's personal life as much as it did on his political persona spanning five decades of his life. Shot on site in England, it ended up with multiple emmy nominations. It was broadcast in the US as part of Masterpiece Theatre in 1980. Distributed by Granada Productions, it is available in a 2-disc DVD set that runs 4 hours and 13 minutes.
Plot
Disc One starts with Disraeli continually running for office despite losing several campaigns. He is finally elected to the House of Commons in 1837. It ends with the swearing in ceremony for Disraeli who has now been appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer and his first meeting with Queen Victoria.
Disc Two start with his term as Chancellor of the Exchequer and his rise in political fortune. He is married to Mary Anne the widow of the man who got him elected and becomes a trusted advisor of the Queen. After the death of Mary Anne the Queens graciousness and that of his love of politics keeps him going. He becomes Prime Minister in the process, becoming very successful before his eventual death in 1881.
Cast
- Ian McShane - as Benjamin Disraeli
- Mary Peach - as Mary Anne Disraeli
- Rosemary Leach - as Queen Victoria
- John Carlisle - as William Ewart Gladstone
- Jeremy Clyde - as John Manners, 7th Duke of Rutland
- Brett Usher - as Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton
- Brewster Mason - as Chancellor Bismarck
- Antony Brown - as Sir Robert Peel
- David de Keyser - as Lionel de Rothschild
- David Wood - as Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby
- John Gregg - as Robert Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
- Brendan Barry - as Stafford Northcote, 1st Earl of Iddesleigh
- Mark Dignam - as John Copley, 1st Baron Lyndhurst
- Patrick Drury - as Montagu Corry, 1st Baron Rowton
- Peter Hughes - as Philip Rose
- Leigh Lawson - as Alfred Guillaume Gabriel, Count D'Orsay
- Peter Miles - as Lord Henry Lennox
- David Riley - as George Smythe, 7th Viscount Strangford
- Anton Rodgers - as Lord George Bentinck
- William Russell - as Wyndham Lewis
External links
- Disraeli at the Internet Movie Database
Categories:- Masterpiece Theatre
- British television miniseries
- Period television series
- United Kingdom television programme stubs
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.