The Scarlet Pimpernel (TV series)

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The Scarlet Pimpernel
The Scarlet Pimpernel 1999 title card.jpg
Series one title card
Based on The Scarlet Pimpernel
by Baroness Emmuska Orczy
Written by Richard Carpenter
Starring Richard E. Grant
Martin Shaw (series 1)
Elizabeth McGovern (series 1)
Caroline Carver (series 2)
Theme music composer Michal Pavlíček
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series2
No. of episodes6
Production
ProducersJulian Murphy
Colin Ludlow
CinematographySimon Kossoff
Peter Greenhalgh
EditorsJeremy Strachan
Beverley Mills
Running time90 minutes
Production companies London Films
A&E Television Productions
BBC Birmingham Productions
Original release
Network BBC One
Release24 January 1999 (1999-01-24) 
1 November 2000 (2000-11-01)

The Scarlet Pimpernel is a 1999 series of television drama programmes loosely based on Baroness Emmuska Orczy's series of novels, set during the French Revolution.

Contents

It stars Richard E. Grant as Sir Percy Blakeney, and his alter ego, the eponymous hero. The first series also starred Elizabeth McGovern as his wife Marguerite and Martin Shaw as the Pimpernel's archrival, Paul Chauvelin. Robespierre was played by Ronan Vibert.

It was filmed in the Czech Republic and scored by a Czech composer, Michal Pavlíček.

Plot

Cast

Episodes

Series 1

Episode #TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal airdate
1"The Scarlet Pimpernel"Patrick Lau Richard Carpenter 24 January 1999 (1999-01-24)
2"Valentin Gautier"Patrick LauRichard Carpenter31 January 1999 (1999-01-31)
3"A King's Ransom" Edward Bennett Richard Carpenter7 February 1999 (1999-02-07)

Series 2

Episode #TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal airdate
1"Ennui"Graham Theakston Matthew Hall 18 October 2000 (2000-10-18)
2"Friends and Enemies" Simon Langton Alan Whiting 25 October 2000 (2000-10-25)
3"A Good Name"Simon Langton Rob Heyland 1 November 2000 (2000-11-01)

Awards

Caroline Carver won a Royal Television Society Best Actress Award for her performance as Claudette in "A Good Name".

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Baroness Emma Orczy, usually known as Baroness Orczy or to her family and friends as Emmuska Orczy, was a Hungarian-born British novelist and playwright. She is best known for her series of novels featuring the Scarlet Pimpernel, the alter ego of Sir Percy Blakeney, a wealthy English fop who turns into a quick-thinking escape artist in order to save French aristocrats from "Madame Guillotine" during the French Revolution, establishing the "hero with a secret identity" in popular culture.

<i>The Elusive Pimpernel</i> (1950 film) 1950 film

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The Scarlet Pimpernel is a musical with music by Frank Wildhorn and lyrics & book by Nan Knighton, based on the 1905 novel of the same name by Baroness Orczy. The show is set in England and France during the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution. The story is a precursor to the spy fiction and the superhero genres, where a hero hides under a mild-mannered alias.

<i>Eldorado</i> (novel) 1913 novel by Baroness Orczy

Eldorado, by Baroness Orczy is a sequel book to the classic adventure tale, The Scarlet Pimpernel. It was first published in 1913. The novel is notable in that it is the partial basis for most of the film treatments of the original book.

<i>The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel</i> 1919 book by Baroness Orczy

The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel is a sequel book to the classic adventure tale, The Scarlet Pimpernel. Written by Baroness Orczy and first published in 1919, the book consists of eleven short stories about Sir Percy Blakeney's exploits in rescuing various aristos and French citizens from the clutches of the guillotine.

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<i>Sir Percy Hits Back</i> Book by Emma Orczy

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<i>The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel</i>

The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel, first published in 1922, is a book in the series about the Scarlet Pimpernel's adventures by Baroness Orczy. Again Orczy interweaves historic fact with fiction, this time through the real life figures of Thérésa Cabarrus, and Jean-Lambert Tallien; inserting the Scarlet Pimpernel as an instigator of the role Tallien played in the Thermidorian Reaction in July 1794.

<i>Adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel</i>

Adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel is the second collection of short stories written by Baroness Orczy about the gallant English hero, the Scarlet Pimpernel and his League. Written in 1929 the stories, which are listed below, are set in 1793 but appear in no particular order. They occasionally refer to events in other books in the series and Orczy frequently reuses plot lines and ideas from the longer Pimpernel novels.

<i>The Scarlet Pimpernel</i> (1934 film) 1934 British adventure film directed by Harold Young

The Scarlet Pimpernel is a 1934 British adventure film directed by Harold Young and starring Leslie Howard, Merle Oberon, and Raymond Massey. Based on the 1905 play by Baroness Orczy and Montagu Barstow and the classic 1905 adventure novel by Orczy, the film is about an eighteenth-century English aristocrat (Howard) who leads a double life, passing himself off as an effete aristocrat while engaged in a secret effort to rescue French nobles from Robespierre's Reign of Terror. The film was produced by Alexander Korda. Howard's portrayal of the title character is often considered the definitive portrayal of the role. In 1941, he played a similar role in "'Pimpernel' Smith" but this time set in pre-WWII Germany.

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The Scarlet Pimpernel is a 1982 British romantic adventure television film set during the French Revolution. It is based on the novels The Scarlet Pimpernel (1905) and Eldorado (1913) by Baroness Emmuska Orczy, and stars Anthony Andrews as Sir Percy Blakeney/the Scarlet Pimpernel, the protagonist, Jane Seymour as Marguerite St. Just, the love interest, and Ian McKellen as Chauvelin, the antagonist.

<i>The Adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel</i> British TV drama series (1955–1956)

The Adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel is a 1955–1956 British television series based on the 1905 novel The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy. The series was created by writer Michael Hogan and produced by the Towers of London for Incorporated Television Programmes. It was first screened in Britain in an eighteen-episode run beginning on 28 September 1955. It was one of the first drama series shown on the fledging network, which had only begun transmission in London the week before.

<i>The Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel</i> 1937 film

The Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel is a 1937 British film directed by Hanns Schwarz and starring Barry K. Barnes, Sophie Stewart, Margaretta Scott and James Mason. It is a sequel to the 1934 film The Scarlet Pimpernel based on the stories by Baroness Emmuska Orczy.

<i>The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel</i> (film) 1928 film

The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel is a 1928 British silent costume drama film directed by T. Hayes Hunter and starring Matheson Lang, Juliette Compton and Nelson Keys. It was based on the 1922 novel The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emma Orczy. It was made at Cricklewood Studios, with art direction by Clifford Pember.

The Elusive Pimpernel is a 1919 British silent adventure film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Cecil Humphreys, Marie Blanche and Norman Page. It was based on the 1908 novel The Elusive Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy.

References