I was raised on British television programs - mainly the WNED out of Buffalo, New York's presentations on Masterpiece Theatre. When I was quite young, I watched the entire series of The Six Wives of Henry VIII, all of the original Forsyte Saga, Upstairs Downstairs, I, Claudius and various other dramatic series as well as British comedies such as On The Buses, Man About The House, Dad's Army, etc. You name it; I saw it!
So, it should be no surprise to my readers that by the time I was a young lady attending university in the early 1980s, I was utterly enamoured of the British way of life, but it was one particular drama that truly captivated me.
The BBC dramatization of Evelyn Waugh's novel, Brideshead Revisited has been called by many "the finest miniseries ever made". It is the story of a young man named Charles Ryder who gets caught up in the tortured life and family of a wealthy, conflicted and beautiful fellow-student, Sebastian Flyte. The adaptation is gorgeously filmed, magnificently acted and scored with a haunting and superb soundtrack by Geoffrey Burgon (who also did the music for the original Dr. Who series).
Thus, we travel back once more to my University days and this rather soppy interpretation of Brideshead (and my obvious infatuation with the lead actors, Jeremy Irons and Anthony Andrews). I so longed to go to Oxford after this!
Incidentally, the actor who played Julia Ryder's lover, Rex Mottram was Charles Keating, who became very well known to American soap opera fans as Carl Hutchins, the pony-tailed villain-turned lover of Rachel Cory on Another World.
Brideshead Revisited, Revisited
Remorse lingers
The tears stain my cheeks
And sting my eyes
The theme resounds in my head
Trumpeting horns
Recall entire lives.
Monday nights
Spent preoccupied
Waiting, anticipating
Aesthetes and devout sinners
Being Catholic,
The emphatic “sin” strikes deep.
The appetizer:
A taste of Oxford life
The year, Nineteen-twenty
Leisure, lushness, liberty
A time to learn
Growing with Charles and Sebastian
The Main course:
Devouring wasted lives
Salvaged by religion
And love
Doomed by painful truth
The haunting “sin” again.
Dessert:
The pleasant, sweet savour
Of salvation
A miracle on a death-bed
Hearts quicken, tears flow
The purpose now revealed
I love Sebastian
His beauty and eccentricity
His fatal charm,
But I need Charles
His patience and eternity
But mostly his perfect voice.
© 2008 - Kathleen Mortensen (née Davison)
Remorse lingers
The tears stain my cheeks
And sting my eyes
The theme resounds in my head
Trumpeting horns
Recall entire lives.
Monday nights
Spent preoccupied
Waiting, anticipating
Aesthetes and devout sinners
Being Catholic,
The emphatic “sin” strikes deep.
The appetizer:
A taste of Oxford life
The year, Nineteen-twenty
Leisure, lushness, liberty
A time to learn
Growing with Charles and Sebastian
The Main course:
Devouring wasted lives
Salvaged by religion
And love
Doomed by painful truth
The haunting “sin” again.
Dessert:
The pleasant, sweet savour
Of salvation
A miracle on a death-bed
Hearts quicken, tears flow
The purpose now revealed
I love Sebastian
His beauty and eccentricity
His fatal charm,
But I need Charles
His patience and eternity
But mostly his perfect voice.
© 2008 - Kathleen Mortensen (née Davison)
8 Friends had this to say::
Torn between two lovers are we Kat? Kind of like when I was torn between sweet Ashley and Rhett Butler! ha ha
I loved Brideshead Revisited, too. After the initial run, I remember staying glued to WNET for an entire weekend watching it as a marathon in the mid-80s.
- Lulu
My husband's cousin won a BAFTA award for the doing the make-up on Brideshead series.(herself and another woman) When I visit her I love looking up at her award. All these interesting people on the set. She said it was fantastic. That series really was outstanding. I almost want to get it out and watch it again.
My boss is called Jolyon named from the series The Forsyte Saga - his daughter is called Fleur!!!
Like you, I was raised on English movies and series etc. Remember The Onedin Line?
Linda,
How exciting, to know someone actually connected with the series. I would have loved to have been the tiniest extra it.
The remake of The Forsyte Saga a few years ago was absolutely riveting! I loved the name "Fleur" for the longest time.
We didn't get The Onedin Line, I don't believe, but they were showing it in reruns on a station in the mornings here about a year ago. I'll watch for it again, but some of the really old ones are soooo dated, arent' they? Oh, I forgot in my post to mention another fantastic series: Poldark! Who can forget Ross Poldark?
I'd love to see that again.
Lulubelle, I have lots of dvds, but have yet to get Brideshead...maybe for my birthday this year -- and I'll have a marathon viewing.
Kat
Michelle, Rhett Butler and Ashley Wilkes? So, you have a little Southern Belle in you then? I would have preferred Ashley with his fair hair and slim build - don't like moustaches.
Kat
Excellent. I am addicted to the BBC, radio and TV.
Ah, a beauty with words... the nearest I get to prose ends in 'ak' and keeps me grinning manically...
The one bit of rhyme that sticks in my head is one from childhood:
little robin red breast,
sitting on a pole,
niddle noddle went his head,
poop went his hole...
Great blog... keep it up...
I'm off on my holiday to Madeira, will most likely blog from sunnier climes (well, I hope, its sunny in Bournemouth, but raining in Medeira...)
I love the Brits, too. And BBC television is ALWAYS a good idea.
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