Torvill & Dean (film)

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Torvill & Dean
Genre Biopic
Written by William Ivory
Directed by Gillies MacKinnon
ComposerAndrew Simon McAllister
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producersVictoria Fea
Emily Dalton
William Ivory
ProducerEmma Burge
Production location Northern Ireland
CinematographyDamien Elliott
EditorAnne Sopel
Running time95 minutes
Original release
Network ITV
Release25 December 2018 (2018-12-25)

Torvill & Dean is a British television biopic written by William Ivory, directed by Gillies MacKinnon, and broadcast on ITV on Christmas Day 2018. It is about the early life and careers of Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, the Nottinghamshire ice dancers who went on to record a perfect score and win the Olympic gold medal in Sarajevo at the 1984 Winter Olympics. [1] [2]

Contents

Cast

Production

British Olympic ice skaters Nick Buckland and Penny Coomes joined the cast as stunt doubles, and acted as consultants. Torvill and Dean were interviewed extensively by Nottinghamshire-born writer William Ivory and gave their blessing to the biopic. Cassie Bradley performed her own ice skating for the role of Leanne, having grown up in Nottingham and attended school with friends Buckland and Coomes. [3]

Reception

The film was watched by 7.74 million viewers in the UK. [4]

Lucy Mangan in The Guardian gave the biopic 5 stars praising the ‘perfect adaptation’ and ‘genuinely brilliant’ performances by Will Tudor and Poppy Lee Friar. [5] The Daily Telegraph also praised the ‘perfect nostalgic festive fare’ with ‘broad humour and gentle observation’. [6] The Independent was more critical giving 2 stars and commenting on the ‘schmalz’. [7]

Related Research Articles

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Jayne Torvill, OBE is a British professional ice dancer and former competitor. With Christopher Dean, she won a gold medal at the 1984 Winter Olympics and a bronze medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics, becoming one of the oldest figure skating Olympic medalists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christopher Dean</span> English ice dancer (born 1958)

Christopher Colin Dean, OBE is a British ice dancer who won a gold medal at the 1984 Winter Olympics with his skating partner Jayne Torvill. They also won a bronze medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics.

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Torvill and Dean are English ice dancers and former British, European, Olympic, and World champions. At the Sarajevo 1984 Winter Olympics the pair won gold and became the highest-scoring figure skaters of all time for a single programme, receiving twelve perfect 6.0s and six 5.9s which included artistic impression scores of 6.0 from every judge, after skating to Maurice Ravel's Boléro. One of the most-watched television events ever in the United Kingdom, their 1984 Olympics performance was watched by a British television audience of more than 24 million people. The couple went on to record an even higher score at the 1984 World Championships, thirteen 6.0s and five 5.9s.

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Figure skating at the 1984 Winter Olympics took place at the Zetra Olympic Hall in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean won gold for Great Britain, receiving twelve perfect scores (6.0), in the free dance segment of the ice dance competition, a feat that was never matched. They received the most maximum 6.0 marks of any figure skaters at the Olympics.

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Betty Daphne Callaway-Fittall, MBE was an English figure skating coach who specialised in ice dancing. She was best known as the coach of Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, the 1984 Olympic champions, and also trained 1980 world champions Krisztina Regőczy and András Sallay, and 1972 European champions Angelika and Erich Buck.

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Poppy Lee Friar is an English actress. She has starred in several popular series such as Missy Booth in the Channel 4 drama Ackley Bridge, Lydia in the BBC Three series In My Skin and Eve in the CBBC series Eve. As well as appearing in numerous television roles, she has also appeared in various films and theatre productions. For her work, Friar has received accolades including nominations at the AACTAs and the BAFTAs, as well as winning an RTS Award.

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References

  1. "Meet the cast of Torvill and Dean on ITV". Radio Times. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  2. "Torvill and Dean cast: who stars in the ITV Christmas Day drama?". Inews.co.uk. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  3. "When is ice-skating biopic Torvill and Dean on TV this Christmas?". Radio Times. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  4. "Weekly top programmes on four screens (from Sept 2018) | BARB" . Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  5. Mangan, Lucy (25 December 2018). "Torvill and Dean review – another perfect 6.0 for Britain's favourite skating duo". Theguardian.com. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  6. "Torvill & Dean, review: ice skating's 'love story' is perfect festive fare". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  7. "ITV's Torvill & Dean is a frictionless retelling in which every rough edge is rubbed smooth – review". The Independent . 25 December 2018. Retrieved 29 December 2018.