Strangers and Brothers (TV series)

Strangers and Brothers
GenreDrama
Based onStrangers and Brothers
by C. P. Snow
Written byJulian Bond
Directed byJeremy Summers (7 episodes)
Ronald Wilson (6 episodes)
ComposerKenyon Emrys-Roberts
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes13
Production
ProducerPhilip Hinchcliffe
Running time55 minutes
Production companyBBC
Original release
NetworkBBC One
Release11 January (1984-01-11) –
4 April 1984 (1984-04-04)

Strangers and Brothers is a 1984 British television series produced by the BBC. Adapted from the novel series of the same name by C. P. Snow, it ran for a single series of thirteen episodes.[1]

Plot summary

The series focuses on the character Lewis Eliot, following his life and career from humble beginnings to being a successful London lawyer, Cambridge don, wartime civil servant, and finally to retirement. Eliot's private life is also explored, relating his unstable marriage to Sheila, his difficult affair with, and then marriage to, his second wife Margaret, and his relationships with his brother Martin and with the mercurial Roy Calvert.

The behind the scenes machinations in the election of a new Master at Eliot's college are explored in one episode.

The series also deals with the British scientific community's involvement in the development of nuclear weapons during World War II. The attempts by the ambitious politician Roger Quaife to halt Britain's nuclear programme results in scandal, and the loss of political influence by both Quaife and Eliot.

Cast

Critical reception

In a 1985 review in The New York Times, John J. O'Connor praised only the episode based on the novel The Masters and called the series a "dud" and summarized; "the series as a whole—or at least its first half—fails to ignite with compelling characters and incidents. The themes are big, the issues are important, but Strangers and Brothers is a monumental disappointment."[2]

References

  1. ^ Baskin p.203
  2. ^ O'Connor, John J. (19 May 1985). "The British turn out duds, too". The New York Times.

Bibliography

  • Ellen Baskin. Serials on British Television, 1950-1994. Scolar Press, 1996.