National Treasure (British TV series)

Last updated

National Treasure
Genre Drama
Based on Operation Yewtree
Written by Jack Thorne
Directed by Marc Munden
Starring
Composer Cristobal Tapia de Veer
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes4 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
ProducerJohn Chapman
Production locations
Production company The Forge
Original release
Network Channel 4
Release20 September (2016-09-20) –
11 October 2016 (2016-10-11)

National Treasure is a four-part 2016 British television drama by Channel 4, written by Jack Thorne. [1] It stars Robbie Coltrane as Paul Finchley, a once successful comedian of the 1980s and early 1990s, now hosting a television quiz show. He is accused of raping several young women in the early 1990s. Julie Walters plays his wife Marie and Andrea Riseborough plays his daughter Dee.

Contents

The drama is inspired by Operation Yewtree, a police operation that resulted in the prosecution of a number of veteran TV performers. [2] [3] At the 2017 British Academy Television Awards, the series won Best Mini-Series while Coltrane was nominated for Best Actor. [4]

Cast

Plot

# Episode Director Writer(s) Original air date Viewers (millions) [lower-alpha 1] [5]
1"Episode 1"Marc Munden Jack Thorne 20 September 2016 (2016-09-20)5.39
After an awards ceremony, veteran comedian Paul Finchley is arrested on suspicion of raping Rebecca Thornton in 1993. The police also find pictures of him with other women. His Catholic [6] wife, Marie, is horrified and his daughter Dee, a recovering drug addict, cannot take it in. Paul's life goes into a downward spiral as he is dropped from his presenting duties and to make matters worse, he faces more charges as more women come forward, including a former babysitter who was 15 years old at the time. [7]
2"Episode 2"Marc Munden Jack Thorne 27 September 2016 (2016-09-27)4.31
Dee begins to wonder if her father, Paul, was abusing her as a child. She attempts to confront her former babysitter, Christina, who has formally accused Paul. Flashback sequences show that Christina introduced Dee to cigarettes one night when Paul and Marie were out. Paul returned without Marie and Christina suggested that they have a drink. It is implied that he put her in a taxi instead. On deciding that Paul is innocent, Dee crashes her car into Christina’s house and writes “I choose to believe too” on one of the tabloid stories, ending up in a coma.
3"Episode 3"Marc Munden Jack Thorne 4 October 2016 (2016-10-04)3.94
Marie is confronted by Rebecca in the Ladies toilet at court. She starts questioning Paul's innocence. Paul is advised by his barrister to claim he had consensual sex with Rebecca. [8] Marie starts wondering why she has stayed married to Paul, despite his numerous extra-marital affairs. [9]
4"Episode 4"Marc Munden Jack Thorne 11 October 2016 (2016-10-11)4.00

Marie has sex with Karl, Paul's former comedy partner, who has been in love with her for decades. Only two of Paul's accusers have persisted in their claims. In court, Christina is proven to have lied, claiming that Paul raped her in his luxury car, which was in fact being driven by Marie (who committed a traffic offence, proven by police records) in another city that day. Rebecca, once a besotted admirer, is ridiculed by Paul's (female) barrister for having written him a fan letter a year after the alleged assault. Paul is cleared of raping both women.

A flashback sequence confirms that he did not put the 15 year old Christina in a taxi. Instead, she stayed in the house, presumably to have a drink with him, and he kissed her. Further flashbacks show that Paul, who had recently learned that the TV network was losing interest in him and wanted to promote Karl as a bigger star, had sex with Rebecca in his caravan whilst filming on location. It is revealed that Karl was outside the caravan and overheard Rebecca's screams, this is implied as role-playing by early dialogue. However, not wanting to tarnish his own career and due to guilt from lusting after and finally sleeping with Paul's wife, he backs Paul in court claiming to not remember the event at all. [10] After the verdict, in which Paul is found not guilty of all charges, it is implied that Marie leaves Paul and his relationship with Dee seems strained. [11]
  1. ↑ 28-day consolidated, including C4+1.

Reception

National Treasure received universal acclaim from critics, with a Metacritic rating of 81 out of 100 based on 21 reviews. [12]

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References

  1. ↑ "Broadcasters find C4's National Treasure". TBI Vision. 20 March 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  2. ↑ Plunkett, John (25 August 2015). "Channel 4 launches drama inspired by Operation Yewtree investigations". The Guardian . Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  3. ↑ Ross, Peter (6 September 2016). "'This is for the people who were abused': Robbie Coltrane on his Yewtree-inspired drama". The Guardian . Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  4. ↑ "Bafta TV awards 2017: full list of winners". Guardian. 14 May 2017. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  5. ↑ "Weekly top 30 programmes on TV sets (July 1998 – Sept 2018)". BARB. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  6. ↑ "Julie Walters: why National Treasure isn't about Jimmy Savile". RadioTimes. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
  7. ↑ "National Treasure - what time is it on TV? Episode 1 Series 1 cast list and preview".
  8. ↑ "National Treasure review: Julie Walters steals the show". Digital Spy. 4 October 2016. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
  9. ↑ "National Treasure - what time is it on TV? Episode 3 Series 1 cast list and preview".
  10. ↑ Binding, Lucia (12 October 2016). "National Treasure comes to a shocking end as Paul Finchley's court verdict is revealed". International Business Times UK. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  11. ↑ "National Treasure delivers its verdict on Robbie Coltrane's Paul Finchley". RadioTimes. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
  12. ↑ "National Treasure: Season 1". Metacritic. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
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