A Dance to the Music of Time (TV series)

*A Dance to the Music of Time*
A Dance to the Music of Time
Genre	Drama
Created by	Anthony Powell;
Written by	Anthony Powell Novel; Hugh Whitemore Screenplay;
Directed by	Christopher Morahan; Alvin Rakoff;
Starring	Gillian Barge; Nicholas Jones; Simon Russell Beale; Robin Bailey; Jonathan Cake; James Fleet; Richard Pasco; James Purefoy; Paul Rhys; Annabel Mullion; Claire Skinner; Adrian Scarborough; Grant Thatcher;
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	4
Production
Executive producer	Hugh Whitemore
Producer	Alvin Rakoff
Running time	416 minutes
Original release
Network	Channel 4
Release	9 October –; 30 October 1997

A Dance to the Music of Time is a British four-part television drama series based on the book series of the same name by Anthony Powell. The series was also written by Anthony Powell with Hugh Whitemore as co-writer. The series was produced by Table Top Productions and directed by Christopher Morahan and Alvin Rakoff. It was first broadcast on Channel 4^[1] on 9 October 1997 over four consecutive weeks.

Synopsis

Several young men go through public school and university together, and maintain contact as they make their way in the world through the 1920s, the upheavals of the 1930s, the Second World War and the post-war years of change in society. Many of the people they meet fall by the wayside, and their own fates are varied. The series attempts to chart change in upper-middle class society through their stories, and the realities of how the English social system worked.

Cast

^[2]

Gillian Barge as Mrs. Erdleigh
Nicholas Jones as Bob Duport
Simon Russell Beale as Widmerpool
Robin Bailey as Uncle Alfred
Jonathan Cake as Peter Templer
James Fleet as Moreland
Richard Pasco as Sir Magnus Donners
James Purefoy as Nicholas Jenkins
Paul Rhys as Charles Stringham
Annabel Mullion as Mona
Claire Skinner as Jean
Adrian Scarborough as JG Quiggin
Grant Thatcher as Mark Members
Sarah Badel as Lady Molly
Alan Bennett as Sillery
Emma Fielding as Isobel
Oliver Ford Davies as Le Bas
Edward Fox as Uncle Giles
Anastasia Hille as Matilda
Nigel Lindsay as Odo Stevens
Miranda Richardson as Pamela Flitton
Zoë Wanamaker as Audrey Maclintick
Michael Williams as Ted Jeavons
Geraldine Alexander as Susan
Carmen Du Sautoy as Miss Weedon
Nicholas Rowe as David Pennistone
Barbara Durkin as Betty
Andrew Havill as Sunny Farebrother
Osmund Bullock as Erridge
Caroline Harker as Priscilla
Tony Osoba as Colonel Flores
Bryan Pringle as Smith
Eileen Atkins as Brightman
Sean Baker as X Trapnel
Paul Brooke as Maclintick
James D'Arcy as Nicholas Jenkins when a student
James Callis as Gwinnett
Kevin Colson as Louis Glober
Joanna David as older Isobel
John Gielgud as St. John Clarke
Patrick Godfrey as General Conyers
Luke de Lacey as Stringham when a student
Lucy Fleming as Jean
Frank Middlemass as Edgar Deacon
Christopher Lang as Chips Lovell
Robert Lang as Leonard Short
Emily Mortimer as Polly Duport
Julian Wadham as General Liddament
Sonia Ritter as Ada
John Standing as older Nicholas Jenkins
Nicola Walker as Gypsy Jones

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	U.K. viewers (millions) ^[3]
1	"The Twenties"	Christopher Morahan	Anthony Powell and Hugh Whitemore	9 October 1997 (1997-10-09)	N/A
2	"The Thirties"	Christopher Morahan	Anthony Powell and Hugh Whitemore	16 October 1997 (1997-10-16)	N/A
3	"The War"	Alvin Rakoff	Anthony Powell and Hugh Whitemore	23 October 1997 (1997-10-23)	N/A
4	"Post War"	Christopher Morahan	Anthony Powell and Hugh Whitemore	30 October 1997 (1997-10-30)	N/A

Critical reception

The Thomas Sutcliffe of The Independent described the first episode in the series if "It's questionable whether any literary work can survive a compression as intense as that undergone by A Dance to the Music of Time" and went on to mention "For obvious reasons barely even a homeopathic trace of Powell's patrician ruminations remain - what has survived are the incidents upon which he strung his grand reflections."^[4]

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Recipient(s)	Result	Ref.
1998	British Academy Television Awards	Best Actor	Simon Russell Beale	Won
	British Academy Television Awards	Best Actress	Miranda Richardson	Nominated
	Royal Television Society Awards	Actor: Male	Simon Russell Beale	Won	^[5]
	Royal Television Society Awards	Actor: Female	Miranda Richardson	Nominated	^[5]