BBC Four's 'Women We Loved' season - Preview
Three major one-off films about the artistic careers of British female icons Margot Fonteyn, Gracie Fields and Enid Blyton première this November on BBC Four, as part of the Women We Loved season.
Enid
Monday 16th November 2009
Helena Bonham Carter (Sweeney Todd) leads the cast in Enid, which also stars Matthew Macfadyen (Spooks) and Denis Lawson (Bleak House).
One of the most recognised storytellers of all time, Blyton's charming characters and classic tales have enchanted countless generations of children all over the world for almost 80 years. She has sold more than 500 million books in 40 countries, and this one-off drama follows the woman behind the enduring and compelling stories, such as the beloved Famous Five, Secret Seven, Malory Towers and Noddy series.
Born at the close of the 19th century, on 11 August 1897, Blyton's life and career spanned a time of enormous social and cultural change. The film will shed light on the ambitious and driven – but as yet unpublished – young woman, from the development of her rich imagination against the adversity of an imperfect childhood, two World Wars, and a first marriage ending in divorce, to household name.
Gracie
Monday 23rd November 2009
Jane Horrocks (Little Voice, The Street, The Amazing Mrs Pritchard) is Gracie in Nick Vivian's (Ted And Alice, The Mystery Of Men, Dancing Queen) romantic comedy about Gracie Fields, the singer and comedienne from Rochdale who rose to fame in the Thirties. She became the nation's darling and the highest-paid film actress in the world. Renowned for her "common touch", Gracie symbolised the indomitable spirit of Thirties Britain. Her mass appeal was unprecedented.
Beginning at the phenomenal peak of her career when her iconic status seemed indestructible, this one-off film examines Gracie's potent war-time struggle between love and duty, and the staggering long-term repercussions of her relationship with Italian-born Hollywood director Monty Banks, played by Tom Hollander (Desperate Romantics). The film opens a window on the complicated and fragile private life of a very public star who, despite everything, was determined to keep the nation laughing.
Jane Horrocks sings a stunning repertoire of Gracie songs, including Sally, Sing As We Go and I Never Cried So Much in All My Life.
Margot
Monday 30th November 2009
Anne-Marie Duff (The Virgin Queen) plays Margot Fonteyn in Amanda Coe's (Shameless) film about one of the truly great dancers of our time.
Partly based on Meredith Daneman's biography, the 90-minute drama explores Margot's dancing partnership and complex relationship with Russian dancer Rudolf Nureyev, forged at the point in her career when everyone expected her to retire. Instead, she and Nureyev's partnership became internationally renowned and Fonteyn danced for another 17 years. The collaboration propelled them into the stratosphere of international stardom, creating a kind of celebrity that had never existed before.
Margot also stars Sir Derek Jacobi as choreographer Sir Frederick Ashton, Penelope Wilton as Margot's mother BQ, Lindsay Duncan as Ninette de Valois, founder of The Royal Ballet, Con O'Neill as Margot's husband, Tito, and Dutch actor Michiel Huisman as Nureyev.
