Hotel Portofino | |
---|---|
Genre | Period drama |
Created by | Matt Baker |
Written by | Matt Baker |
Directed by | Adam Wimpenny |
Starring | Natascha McElhone Lucy Akhurst |
Composer | Stefano Cabrera |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of series | 3 |
No. of episodes | 18 |
Production | |
Executive producers |
|
Producer | Julie Bains |
Production locations |
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Cinematography | Erol Zubcevic |
Production company | Eagle Eye Drama |
Original release | |
Network | BritBox |
Release | 27 January 2022 – present |
Hotel Portofino is a British period drama television series, created and written by Matt Baker. It is about a British family in the 1920s who own and operate a hotel for wealthy clients in an Italian resort town. The six-episode first season was released on BritBox in the United Kingdom on 27 January 2022 and began airing on ITV from 3 February 2023. It premiered on Sky Italia on 28 February 2022. [1]
The series was renewed for a second season, which began broadcasting 12 February 2023. [2] The show has been renewed for a third season. [3]
Bella Ainsworth and her family run a hotel for wealthy holidaymakers in the resort town of Portofino on the Italian Riviera. However, as they deal with the problems of running the hotel while subjected to deception and rampant corruption, the nation of Italy is dealing with political turmoil brought on by the rise of the Fascist movement.
No. overall | No. in series | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | U.K. viewers (millions) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | "First Impressions" | Adam Wimpenny | Matt Baker | 27 January 2022 | N/A | |
Bella Ainsworth and her husband, Cecil, along with their grown children, Lucian and Alice, are navigating the difficulties of running an English centric hotel in the Italian coastal town of Portofino. Rose and her mother, Julia, arrive at the hotel to evaluate marriage prospects with Lucian. Lady Latchmere and her niece, Melissa, Anish Sengupta, a friend of Lucian, an Italian Count and his son, along with American Jack Turner and his wife Claudine, round out the rest of the guests. Constance March arrives and is the new nanny hired to care for the child of Alice. Cecil has a prior relationship with Julia and isn't above stealing from the business to maintain his lifestyle. Bella also has to contend with a local Fascist politician, Danioni. | |||||||
2 | 2 | "Lessons" | Adam Wimpenny | Matt Baker | 3 February 2022 | N/A | |
Bella refuses Cecil's demands to ask her father for more money for the hotel. Cecil arranges for a family heirloom to be sent from England for authentication by Jack Turner, who claims to be connected to the art society of Europe and America. Danioni ingratiates himself with Cecil and earns an invitation to tea, much to Bella's horror. Lucian gives Rose a painting lesson ending in an unfortunate accident. New guests, Pelham Wingfield, a tennis pro, and his wife, Lizzie arrive. Bella realizes how serious Danioni is about his blackmail threat. | |||||||
3 | 3 | "Invitations" | Adam Wimpenny | Matt Baker | 10 February 2022 | N/A | |
Lucian and Anish, run afoul of Danioni's Blackshirts but are rescued by a charismatic local, Gianluca Bruzzone. Claudine begins a fling with Roberto Albani, while Cecil and Jack shake on a shady deal for the sale of his family heirloom, a possible painting by artist Paul Rubens, while Wingfield listens in. Bella and Lady Latchmere bond over a family tragedy and later, Bella throws a tea party for the locals to try and earn more money. Some of the hotel guests are invited to the home of a local aristocrat but Rose instead attends a party some of the younger set have at the hotel, where she lets her hair down to the disgust of her mother Julia. Anish decides to become more involved in the anti-fascist movement, to Lucians dismay and they must make a quick escape from the Blackshirts and Danioni at their first meeting. | |||||||
4 | 4 | "Uncoverings" | Adam Wimpenny | Matt Baker | 17 February 2022 | N/A | |
5 | 5 | "Discoveries" | Adam Wimpenny | Matt Baker | 24 February 2022 | N/A | |
6 | 6 | "Denouements" | Adam Wimpenny | Matt Baker | 3 March 2022 | N/A |
No. overall | No. in series | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Viewers (millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
7 | 1 | "Returns" | Adam Wimpenny | Matt Baker | 12 February 2023(AUS) | N/A |
17 March 2023(UK) | ||||||
8 | 2 | "Alliances" | Adam Wimpenny | Matt Baker | 19 February 2023(AUS) | N/A |
24 March 2023(UK) | ||||||
9 | 3 | "Coming Together" | Adam Wimpenny | Matt Baker | 26 February 2023(AUS) | N/A |
31 March 2023(UK) | ||||||
10 | 4 | "Contortions" | Adam Wimpenny | Matt Baker | 5 March 2023(AUS) | N/A |
7 April 2023(UK) | ||||||
11 | 5 | "Subterfuges" | Adam Wimpenny | Matt Baker | 12 March 2023(AUS) | N/A |
14 April 2023(UK) | ||||||
12 | 6 | "Farewells" | Adam Wimpenny | Matt Baker | 19 March 2023(AUS) | N/A |
21 April 2023(UK) | ||||||
No. overall | No. in series | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Viewers (millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
13 | 1 | "Entitled" | Jon Jones | Matt Baker | 25 April 2024 | N/A |
N/A | ||||||
14 | 2 | "Proposals" | Jon Jones | Matt Baker | 2 May 2024 | N/A |
N/A | ||||||
15 | 3 | "Realizations" | Jon Jones | Matt Baker | 9 May 2024 | N/A |
N/A | ||||||
16 | 4 | "Experiments" | Jon Jones | Matt Baker | 16 May 2024 | N/A |
N/A | ||||||
17 | 5 | "Revelations" | Jon Jones | Matt Baker | 23 May 2024 | N/A |
N/A | ||||||
18 | 6 | "Masquerades" | Jon Jones | Matt Baker | 30 May 2024 | N/A |
N/A | ||||||
Baker created and wrote the first series in 2020. Principal photography took place on location in Rijeka, Lovran, and Rovinj, Croatia. A minor part was filmed in Portofino, Italy in 2021. [4] [5]
The second series began filming in July 2022. It was Croatia's largest television production of that year. The production employed 135 Croatian crew, including 13 out of 14 heads of departments, and more than 800 extras. [6]
BetaFilm Group is handling international distribution of the series. In June 2021, it was announced the first series of Hotel Portofino had been sold to BritBox and ITV, Sky Italia, Foxtel in Australia and the American broadcaster PBS. [7] Sales expanded to Danish DR, Swedish SVT, Norwegian NRK, Finnish Yle, Icelandic Sýn and Dutch NPO by October. [4]
BritBox released a trailer for the first series on 5 January 2022. [8]
A novelisation of the series, written by J.P. O'Connell, was published in December 2021 ahead of the series launch on BritBox. A follow-up novel, Hotel Portofino: Lovers and Liars, was published on 15 February 2024.
Series 2 began airing on U&DRAMA on Friday 8 November.
Radio Times consistently complimented the first series, awarding Hotel Portofino a glowing front cover and countless Pick of the Days. Jane Rackham also boasted the 'sumptuous period drama' as 'enjoyable escapism' in the magazine.
In more critical reviews, Anita Singh in The Telegraph gave the first series two out of five stars, praising the production values but unimpressed by the writing. Singh remarked, 'It is a drama serial which draws so heavily from The Durrells and Downton Abbey that it could have been assembled from an ITV kit, although it is a pale imitation of both. [9]
Barbara Ellen of The Observer awarded the second series two out of five stars, summarizing it as 'so silly you may just enjoy it.' [10]
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