The Bretts is a British period drama television series produced by Central Independent Television. It originally aired for 2 series consisting of 19 episodes between 16 October 1987 and 28 August 1988 on ITV in the United Kingdom and on Masterpiece Theatre in the United States.
It follows the fortunes and dramatic private lives of The Bretts, a legendary theatrical dynasty, headed by Actor-manager Charles Brett (Norman Rodway) and his wife Lydia Brett (Barbara Murray). They have been the reigning luminaries of the West End stage since the 1890s, and their fiercely competitive nature has now been passed down to the next generation of Bretts: Edwin, Martha and Thomas. The series is set in London, England, against the backdrop of the British theatre and interwar society during the late 1920s and into the 1930s. The series deals with the advent of ‘talking pictures’ and the radical plays that began to be written by the likes of people like Noël Coward.
Dubbed “Upstage, Downstage” by critics, due to Sissons being a writer on the popular period drama Upstairs, Downstairs, the second series was produced in association with the WGBH television station in Boston, USA, the Central Television series allegedly cost £15 million and was the channels most expensive drama up to that point. The series were funded with a grant from The Mobil Corporation and was promoted in the US under the Mobil Masterpiece Theater banner.
The series was known for its high production values for the time, from costumes to props, as well as many of the episodes consisting of multiple elaborate sets, some of which were only used once. The Princess Theatre which features prominently in the series was filmed at the Buxton Opera House.
The series was created by Frank Marshall and Rosemary Anne Sisson.. Sissons wrote a book based on the series which was published by Penguin Books in 1987.
The Wall Street Journal called it “The fine high style of Masterpiece Theatre at its frothiest” and The Houston Chronicle referred to it as a “Delightfully dizzy clan of Brits”.
Main cast Norman Rodway as Charles Brett Barbara Murray as Lydia Brett Belinda Lang as Martha Brett David Yelland as Edwin Brett George Winter as Thomas "Tom" Brett Sally Cookson / Natalia Thompson as Perdita Brett Frank Middlemass as George Brett Helena McCarthy as Maeve Brett Tim Wylton as Alfred Sutton (The Bretts Butler) Billy Boyle as Patrick Hegarty (The Bretts Chauffeur) Rhoda Lewis as Flora Evans (The Bretts Cook) (Series 1) Janet Maw as Jean Lacy (Series 1) Hugh Fraser as Oliver Mortimer, KC (Series 2)
It was whilst filming Series 2 that Belinda Lang first met, and acted opposite, her future husband, Hugh Fraser.
Episodes Series overview
Series 1 (1987)
Series 2 (1988)
Home media The complete series was released on DVD as a box set by Acorn Media in the United States on 26 July 2011. And it remains not yet to be released in the United Kingdom.
References
External links
The Bretts at Nostalgia Central