The Glittering Prizes

Last updated

The Glittering Prizes
The Glittering Prizes.jpg
GenreDrama
Written by Frederic Raphael
Directed by Waris Hussein
Robert Knights
Starring Tom Conti
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes6
Production
Producer Mark Shivas
Running time80 minutes
Production company BBC
Original release
Network BBC2
Release21 January (1976-01-21) 
25 February 1976 (1976-02-25)

The Glittering Prizes is a British television drama by Frederic Raphael about the changing lives of a group of Cambridge students, starting in 1952 and following them through to middle age in the 1970s. [1] It was first broadcast on BBC2 in January 1976 [1] and later adapted into a novel of the same name. [2] [3]

Contents

Episodes

Episode 1 ‘An Early Life’ aired 21 January 1976
Plot outline: It is the mid-1950s, Adam Morris (Tom Conti) begins his career as a Cambridge undergraduate on a scholarship. Some of Adam's views about class and religious faith are tested by an aristocratic fellow undergraduate who shares his rooms. The series's characters are introduced by their involvement in a play by the Cambridge Footlights.

Episode 2 ‘A Love Life’ aired 28 January 1976
Plot outline: Still the mid fifties., Adam marries Barbara (Barbara Kellerman), despite parental opposition, whilst Joyce (Angela Down) finds herself pregnant by Alan (John Gregg (actor)) but marries Dan (Malcolm Stoddard).

Episode 3 ‘A Past Life’ aired 4 February 1976
Plot outline: The early 1960s, Adam (Tom Conti) has a bruising encounter with a famous writer Stephen Taylor (Eric Porter) who was once a fascist sympathiser but then goes on to write an Oscar-winning screenplay.

Episode 4 ‘A Country Life’ aired 11 February 1976
Plot outline: The mid sixties. Set at a boys' approved school Joyce (Angela Down) must finally face up to some unpleasant truths about her seemingly idyllic marriage to Dan (Malcolm Stoddard), now a teacher, when their old Cambridge friend Alan (John Gregg (actor)), now a media personality, drops in.

Episode 5 ‘An Academic Life’ aired 18 February 1976
Plot Outline: the late sixties. Accusations of racism are made by student militants at a plate glass university featuring, Dinsdale Landen as Gavin Pope, Ray Smith (actor) as Austin Denny, Clive Merrison as Bill Bourne, Suzanne Stone as Joann Bourne, Tim Pigott-Smith as Tim Dent, Carolle Rousseau as Jeanne Dent.

Episode 6 ‘A Double Life’ aired 25 February 1976
Plot outline: It’s 1976, Adam (Tom Conti), by now a famous writer, copes with the death of his father and tragedies in the personal lives of some old Cambridge friends.

Cast (selected)

CharacterActor
Adam Morris Tom Conti
Barbara Morris Barbara Kellerman
Lionel Morris Leonard Sachs
Joyce Hadleigh/Bradley Angela Down
Dan Bradley Malcolm Stoddard
Barbara Ransome/Parks Anna Carteret
Donald Davidson David Robb
Mike Clode Mark Wing-Davey
Anna Cunningham Emily Richard
Alan Parks John Gregg
Denis Porson Nigel Havers
Bill Bourne Clive Merrison
Stephen Taylor Eric Porter
Gavin Pope Dinsdale Landen

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Conti</span> Scottish actor (born 1941)

Tommaso Antonio Conti is a Scottish actor. Conti has received numerous accolades including a Tony Award and a Laurence Olivier Award as well as nominations for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award and two Golden Globe Awards.

<i>Crossroads</i> (British TV series) British soap opera

Crossroads is a British television soap opera that ran on ITV over two periods – the original 1964 to 1988 run, followed by a short revival from 2001 to 2003. Set in a fictional motel in the Midlands, Crossroads became a byword for low production values, particularly in the 1970s and early 1980s. Despite this, the series regularly attracted huge audiences during this time, with ratings as high as 15 million viewers.

Harry Summerfield Hoff was an English novelist, writing under the name William Cooper.

<i>The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy</i> (radio series) UK sci-fi comedy radio series (1978–2018)

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction comedy radio series primarily written by Douglas Adams. It was originally broadcast in the United Kingdom by BBC Radio 4 in 1978, and afterwards the BBC World Service, National Public Radio in the US and CBC Radio in Canada. The series was the first radio comedy programme to be produced in stereo, and was innovative in its use of music and sound effects, winning a number of awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Greengrass</span> British director, producer, and writer

Paul Greengrass is an English film director, film producer, screenwriter and former journalist.

Families is a daytime soap opera, which was on ITV from 1990 to 1993 and created by Kay Mellor. It followed two families; the Thompsons, based in Cheshire, England, and the Stevens, living in Sydney. It was produced and recorded at Studio 6 at Granada Studios in Manchester.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doug Liman</span> American film director and producer

Douglas Eric Liman is an American film director and producer. He is known for directing the films Swingers (1996), Go (1999), The Bourne Identity (2002), Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), Jumper (2008), Edge of Tomorrow (2014), and American Made (2017).

<i>Gideons Way</i> British television series

Gideon's Way is a British television crime series that was made by ITC Entertainment and broadcast by ITV in 1964–1966. It is based on novels by John Creasey. The series was made at Elstree Studios in twin production with The Saint television series, which was likewise produced by Robert S. Baker and Monty Berman.

Frederic Michael Raphael is an American British BAFTA- and Academy Award-winning screenwriter, biographer, non-fiction writer, novelist, and journalist.

<i>Bachelor Father</i> (American TV series) American TV series or program

Bachelor Father is an American sitcom starring John Forsythe, Noreen Corcoran and Sammee Tong. The series first premiered on CBS in September 1957 before moving to NBC for the third season in 1959. The series' fifth and final season aired on ABC. A total of 157 episodes were aired. The series was based on "A New Girl in His Life", which aired on General Electric Theater on May 26, 1957.

<i>Deadline</i> (2000 TV series) American TV series or program

Deadline is an American drama television series created by Dick Wolf, that aired on NBC from October 2, 2000, to October 30, 2000. It stars Oliver Platt as Wallace Benton, star columnist for the fictional New York Ledger, a daily tabloid newspaper seen in many episodes of Law & Order and modeled after the real-life New York Post.

Richard Harris is a British screenwriter and playwright, most active from the early 1960s to the mid-1990s. He wrote primarily for the crime and detective genres, having contributed episodes of series such as The Avengers, The Saint, The Sweeney, Armchair Mystery Theatre, and Target. He has helped to create several programmes of the genre, including Adam Adamant Lives!, Man in a Suitcase, and Shoestring.

<i>The Cedar Tree</i> British ITV soap opera 1976–79

The Cedar Tree was a television serial that ran from 1976 to 1979 on ITV in the United Kingdom.

<i>Parades End</i> (TV series) Television series

Parade's End is a five-part BBC/HBO/VRT television serial adapted from the eponymous tetralogy of novels (1924–1928) by Ford Madox Ford. It premiered on BBC Two on 24 August 2012 and on HBO on 26 February 2013. The series was also screened at the 39th Ghent Film Festival on 11 October 2012. The miniseries was directed by Susanna White and written by Tom Stoppard. The cast was led by Benedict Cumberbatch and Rebecca Hall as Christopher and Sylvia Tietjens, along with Adelaide Clemens, Rupert Everett, Miranda Richardson, Anne-Marie Duff, Roger Allam, Janet McTeer, Freddie Fox, Jack Huston, and Steven Robertson.

<i>David Copperfield</i> (1966 TV serial) British TV series or programme

David Copperfield is a BBC television serial starring Ian McKellen in the title role of the adaptation of Charles Dickens's 1850 novel that began airing in January 1966. It also featured Tina Packer as Dora Flora Robson as Betsey Trotwood, Gordon Gostelow as Barkis, and Christopher Guard as young David. The screenplay adaptation was written by Vincent Tilsley, who had previously helmed the 1956 adaptation almost a decade prior.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean Hanff Korelitz</span> American novelist (born 1961)

Jean Hanff Korelitz is an American novelist, playwright, theater producer and essayist.

The Agony of... is a collection of conversational-style Australian television programs which originally screened between 2012 and 2015 on ABC1, and later aired in the United States on Vibrant TV Network. The format shows a number of well-known men and women talking to interviewer/narrator Adam Zwar.

<i>The Night Manager</i> (British TV series) 2016 British television serial based on a novel by John le Carré

The Night Manager is a British television serial directed by Susanne Bier and starring Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie, Olivia Colman, Tom Hollander, David Harewood and Elizabeth Debicki. It is based on the 1993 novel of the same title by John le Carré and adapted to the present day by David Farr. The six-part series began broadcasting on BBC One on 21 February 2016. In the United States, it began on 19 April 2016 on AMC. It has been sold internationally by IMG to over 180 countries.

ABC Mystery Theater, also known as just simply Mystery Theater or Mystery Theatre, was an American radio anthology, crime and mystery series from the 1950s. The program starred originally, actor Robert Carroll in the title role of Inspector Mark Saber, a British detective from the Homicide Squad then by actor Les Damon for seasons two and three. The program also centered on Saber's assistant Sgt. Tim Maloney, originally portrayed by character actor James Westerfield for the first half of season one, actor Douglas Chandler for the second half of season one and finally by character actor Walter Burke for seasons two and three.

<i>Jemima Shore Investigates</i> British TV series or programme

Jemima Shore Investigates is a British mystery television series which originally aired in twelve episodes in 1983. It is based on a series of novels by Antonia Fraser about Jemima Shore, a crime-solving television presenter.

References

  1. 1 2 Evans, Jeff (2001). The Penguin TV Companion. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Books. ISBN   0-14-051467-8.
  2. "BFI Screenonline: Glittering Prizes, The (1976)". www.screenonline.org.uk. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  3. The Glittering Prizes | TVmaze , retrieved 14 February 2022