Strangers and Brothers (TV series)

*Strangers and Brothers*
Strangers and Brothers
Genre	Drama
Based on	Strangers and Brothers; by C.P. Snow
Written by
Directed by	Jeremy Summers (7 episodes) ; (6 episodes)
Composer	Kenyon Emrys-Roberts
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	13
Production
Producer	Philip Hinchcliffe
Running time	55 minutes
Production company	BBC
Release
Original network	BBC One
Original release	11 January –; 4 April 1984

Strangers and Brothers is a 1984 British television series produced by the BBC. Adapted from the novel series of the same name by C. P. Snow, it ran for a single series of thirteen episodes.^[1]

Plot summary[]

The series focuses on the character Lewis Eliot and follows his life and career from humble beginnings to a successful London lawyer, Cambridge don, wartime service in Whitehall, senior civil servant and finally retirement. Eliot's private life is also explored relating to his unstable marriage to Sheila, his difficult affair with his second wife Margaret, his relationship with his brother Martin, and the mercurial Roy Calvert.

The machinations behind the scenes of the efforts to elect a new Master at Eliot's college are explored.

The series also deals with the British scientific community's involvement in the development of nuclear weapons during the Second World War. The attempts by the ambitious politician Roger Quaife to halt Britain's nuclear program results in scandal and the loss of political influence by both Quaife and Eliot.

Cast[]

as Lewis Eliot (13 episodes)
as Francis Getliffe (10 episodes)
Edward Hardwicke as Sir Hector Rose (7 episodes)
Sheila Ruskin as Sheila Eliot (6 episodes)
Cherie Lunghi as Margaret Eliot (5 episodes)
as Walter Luke (5 episodes)
Nigel Havers as Roy Calvert (4 episodes)
Peter Sallis as Leonard March (3 episodes)
as Martin Eliot (3 episodes)
as Charles March (3 episodes)
Elizabeth Spriggs as Lady Muriel Royce (3 episodes)
Carmen Du Sautoy as Ann Simon (3 episodes)
Kathryn Pogson as Joan Royce (3 episodes)
Neil Stacy as Herbert Getliffe (3 episodes)
James Cossins as Mr. Knight (3 episodes)
as Katherine March (3 episodes)
Gawn Grainger as Dr. Pearson (3 episodes)
John Grillo as Arthur Brown 3 episodes)
Anthony Hopkins as Roger Quaife (2 episodes)
Susan Fleetwood as Lady Caroline Quaife (2 episodes)
Christopher Casson as Austin Davidson (2 episodes)
Tessa Peake-Jones as Irene Eliot (2 episodes)
Frederick Treves as Vernon Royce (2 episodes)
John Carson as Jago (2 episodes)
Simon Oates as Major Darling (2 episodes)
Tom Wilkinson as George Passant (2 episodes)
Tony Britton as Lord Boscastle (2 episodes)
Joan Greenwood as Lady Boscastle (2 episodes)
John Normington as Monty Cave (2 episodes)
Gareth Thomas as Arthur Mounteney (2 episodes)
John Phillips as Reggie Collingwood (2 episodes)
Alan MacNaughtan as Winslow (2 episodes)
Michael Cochrane as Sammikins (2 episodes)
Peter Copley as Despard-Smith (2 episodes)
Tom Chadbon as Sir Douglas Osbaldiston (2 episodes)
Michael Troughton as Jack Cotery (2 episodes)
Gillian Bailey as Olive Calvert (2 episodes)
Jeffry Wickham as Chrystal (2 episodes)
Andrew Cruickshank as M.H.L. Gay (1 episode)
Cyril Luckham as Eustace Pilbrow (1 episode)

Critical reception[]

In a 1985 review in the New York Times, John J. O'Connor praised only the episode based on the novel The Masters and called the series a "dud" and summarized; "the series as a whole—or at least its first half—fails to ignite with compelling characters and incidents. The themes are big, the issues are important, but Strangers and Brothers is a monumental disappointment."^[2]

References[]

^ Baskin p.203
^ O'Connor, John J. (May 19, 1985). "The British turn out duds, too". New York Times.

Bibliography[]

Ellen Baskin. Serials on British Television, 1950-1994. Scolar Press, 1996.

External links[]

Strangers and Brothers at IMDb

[1] Baskin p.203

[NYT-2] O'Connor, John J. (May 19, 1985). "The British turn out duds, too". New York Times.

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