Mapp and Lucia (2014 TV series)

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Mapp and Lucia
Mapp & Lucia titlecard part 1.jpg
Part one titlecard
GenreComedy-drama
Based on Mapp and Lucia by E. F. Benson
Written by Steve Pemberton
Directed by Diarmuid Lawrence
ComposerKevin Sargant
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes3
Production
Executive producerLisa Osborne
Producer Susie Liggat
Production locations Tilling, Rye, East Sussex, England, United Kingdom
CinematographyDirk Nel
Running time60 minutes
Production companyBBC Drama Production
Original release
Network
Release29 December (2014-12-29) –
31 December 2014 (2014-12-31)

Mapp and Lucia is a British drama television series that was first broadcast on BBC One from 29 to 31 December 2014. The three-part series, adapted by Steve Pemberton and directed by Diarmuid Lawrence, is based on E. F. Benson's Mapp and Lucia collection of novels. [1] [2] The series features an ensemble cast, with Miranda Richardson and Anna Chancellor playing the eponymous characters Elizabeth Mapp and Emmeline 'Lucia' Lucas. It is set in the Sussex coastal town of Tilling, based very closely on Rye, East Sussex, where it was filmed and where Benson lived. Although attracting modest viewing figures, the series received positive reviews from critics.

Contents

Cast

Episodes

EpisodeTitleDirected byWritten byAirdateUK viewers
(in millions) [4]
1"Episode 1"Diarmuid LawrenceSteve Pemberton29 December 2014 (2014-12-29)4.87
It is 1930 and in the quaint Queen Anne village of Tilling and Miss Elizabeth Mapp reigns supreme over them all. Until, that is, the arrival of Mrs Emmeline 'Lucia' Lucas. With her passion for music, art and high culture of all kinds, Lucia is quite an addition to Tilling's social scene. It's not long before Mapp is indulging attempts to undermine her accomplished tenant.
2"Episode 2"Diarmuid LawrenceSteve Pemberton30 December 2014 (2014-12-30)2.92 (overnight)
The Tilling Summer Exhibition provides Lucia with a new battlefield to conquer. She and Georgie prepare to amaze their new friends with their artistic ability, whatever lengths they have to go to for success. Their triumphs leave Mapp in a fury until an exotic visitor passing through Tilling provides her with an opportunity to start a new trend.
3"Episode 3"Diarmuid LawrenceSteve Pemberton31 December 2014 (2014-12-31)2.24 (overnight)
While most of Tilling thrills to Lucia's artistic accomplishments, Mapp is convinced that her summer visitor is a fraud. Suspecting that her tenant's grasp of Italian is limited to the few phrases she may have picked up from occasional trips to the opera, Mapp thrills to the news that Tilling is to be visited by a genuine Italian contessa. This surely will call Lucia's bluff. And when Lucia goes down with a bout of influenza on the very day of the contessa's arrival, all of Mapp's suspicions seem justified.

Production

Mapp and Lucia was commissioned by Charlotte Moore and Ben Stephenson for BBC One. [5] Filming took place in and around Rye during the summer of 2014 [6] as well as Kent and East Sussex Railway Station in Tenterden. [7]

The "guru" storyline in episode 2 is taken from E.F. Benson's first Lucia novel, Queen Lucia (1920), with Daisy Quantock being the guru's original sponsor. Transported to Tilling in this series, Diva Plaistow plays the Daisy role in the storyline.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">E. F. Benson</span> English novelist and writer (1867–1940)

Edward Frederic Benson was an English novelist, biographer, memoirist, historian and short story writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rye, East Sussex</span> Town in East Sussex, England

Rye is a town and civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex, England, two miles from the sea at the confluence of three rivers: the Rother, the Tillingham and the Brede. An important member of the mediaeval Cinque Ports confederation, it was at the head of an embayment of the English Channel, and almost entirely surrounded by the sea.

Philippa Jane Haywood is an English actress. She won the 2005 Rose d'Or Award for Best Female Comedy Performance for Green Wing (2004–2006). Her other television credits include The Brittas Empire (1991–1997), Chimera (1991) Prisoners' Wives (2012–2013) and Scott & Bailey (2012–2016). In 2018, she played the role of Lorraine Craddock in the BBC television series Bodyguard. In 2019 she appeared in series 4 of the BBC Radio 4 Show The Pin.

Mapp and Lucia is a collective name for a series of novels by E. F. Benson and also the name of two British television adaptations based on those novels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Pemberton</span> British actor and comedian (born 1967)

Steven James Pemberton is a British actor, comedian, director and writer. He is best known as a member of The League of Gentlemen with Reece Shearsmith, Mark Gatiss, and Jeremy Dyson. Pemberton and Shearsmith also co-wrote and starred in the black comedy Psychoville and the anthology series Inside No. 9. His other notable television credits include Doctor Who, Benidorm, Blackpool, Shameless, Whitechapel, Happy Valley and Mapp and Lucia.

Nicholas Robin Frank Woodeson is an English film, television and theatre actor, and Drama Desk and Olivier award nominee.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lamb House</span> Writers house museum in Rye, East Sussex, England

Lamb House is a Grade II* listed 18th-century house situated in Rye, East Sussex, England, and in the ownership of the National Trust.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tilling (Sussex)</span>

Tilling is a fictional coastal town, based on Rye, East Sussex, in the Mapp and Lucia novels of Edward Frederic Benson (1867–1940).

Riseholme is a fictional Elizabethan village in the Cotswolds in the "Lucia" novels of Edward Frederic Benson (1867–1940). It is thought to have been based on Broadway, Worcestershire.

Celia Daisy Morna Haggard is a British actress and writer. She is known for her roles in the BBC sitcoms Uncle and Episodes. Haggard stars in BBC Three’s comedy-drama, Back to Life, which she also created and co-wrote with Laura Solon. Since 2020, she has appeared alongside Martin Freeman as Ally in the FX series Breeders, a role for which she was nominated for the BAFTA Television Award for Best Female Comedy Performance.

<i>Mapp & Lucia</i> (1985 TV series) British television series

Mapp and Lucia is a British television series, set in the fictional Sussex coastal town of Tilling and based on three 1930s novels by E. F. Benson, beginning with Mapp and Lucia. It was produced by London Weekend Television, filmed in Rye and neighbouring Winchelsea in the 1980s, and starred Prunella Scales as Mapp, Geraldine McEwan as Lucia, Nigel Hawthorne as Georgie, and Denis Lill as Major Benjy. The script was by Gerald Savory. There were ten episodes, broadcast on Channel 4 in 1985 and 1986. The opening title painting was painted by the artist Reg Cartwright. These have been repeated over the years, and a new BBC adaptation, Mapp and Lucia, aired in 2014.

Queen Lucia is a 1920 comic novel written by E. F. Benson. It is the first of six novels in the popular Mapp and Lucia series, about idle women in the 1920s and their struggle for social dominance over their small communities. This book introduces Emmeline Lucas, known as Lucia to her friends, the social queen of the fictional Elizabethan village of Riseholme, as well as her husband Philip ("Peppino") Lucas, her best friend Georgie Pillson and her friendly rival, Daisy Quantock.

Miss Mapp is a 1922 comic novel written by E. F. Benson. It is the second of six novels in the popular Mapp and Lucia series, about idle women in the 1920s and their struggle for social dominance over their small communities. This book introduces Miss Mapp, the social tyrant of the fictional coastal town of Tilling, and the cast of Tillingites, including Diva Plaistow, Major Benji Flint, Mr. and Mrs. Wyse, and Quaint Irene. Tilling was inspired by the town of Rye, where Benson lived at Lamb House, with his own commanding view of the High Street inspiring Mapp's domain, Mallards.

Lucia in London is a 1927 comic novel written by E. F. Benson. It is the third of six novels in the popular Mapp and Lucia series, about idle women in the 1920s and their struggle for social dominance over their small communities. The second Lucia novel, it is a sequel to 1920's Queen Lucia. In this novel, Lucia leaves her small town of Riseholme and moves to London, where she attacks the city's social life with the same eager ferocity.

<i>Mapp and Lucia</i> 1931 novel by E. F. Benson

Mapp and Lucia is a 1931 comic novel written by E. F. Benson. It is the fourth of six novels in the popular Mapp and Lucia series, about idle women in the 1920s and their struggle for social dominance over their small communities. It brings together two sets of characters from three previous Benson novels: Emmeline "Lucia" Lucas, Georgie Pillson and Daisy Quantock from Queen Lucia (1920) and Lucia in London (1927), and Miss Elizabeth Mapp and her neighbours from Miss Mapp (1922).

<i>Paying Guests</i> (novel) 1929 novel

Paying Guests is a 1929 comedy novel by the British writer E.F. Benson, best known as the author of the Mapp and Lucia series. The story takes place at Wentworth, a boarding house in the fictional resort town of Bolton Spa. It focuses on the eccentric collection of summer residents, mostly there to try and recover their health, overseen by the domineering former Indian Army Colonel Chase. It has been described as "The coming together of character and situation in Paying Guests creates a comic masterpiece, worthy to stand alongside the Mapp and Lucia books".

Lucia's Progress is a 1935 comic novel written by E.F. Benson. It is the fifth of six novels in the popular Mapp and Lucia series, about idle women in the 1920s and their struggle for social dominance over their small communities. It continues the story from the 1931 novel Mapp and Lucia, which brought Emmeline "Lucia" Lucas and Georgie Pillson from Queen Lucia (1920) and Lucia in London (1927) together with Miss Elizabeth Mapp and her neighbours from Miss Mapp (1922).

Trouble for Lucia is a 1939 comic novel written by E.F. Benson. It is the sixth and final novel in the popular Mapp and Lucia series, about idle women in the 1920s and their struggle for social dominance over their small communities.

References

  1. ↑ Plunkett, John (28 February 2014). "David Walliams to star as BBC bags Agatha Christie drama deal". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
  2. ↑ Jeffery, Morgan (28 February 2014). "Lenny Henry, Steve Pemberton to write new BBC One dramas". Digital Spy. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
  3. ↑ "Cast announced for BBC One's adaptation of EF Benson's Mapp And Lucia". BBC. 1 May 2014. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
  4. ↑ "Weekly Top 30 Programmes". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board . Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  5. ↑ "BBC One announces adaptation of EF Benson's Mapp And Lucia". BBC. 28 February 2014. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
  6. ↑ "Mapp and Lucia: Cast Announced: Filming in Rye". www.visit1066country.com. 7 May 2014. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
  7. ↑ Kent Film Office. "Kent Film Office Mapp and Lucia Article".
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