The First Churchills (British Mini-series)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: C+     Episodes: B

 

 

What can you say about a Mini-series that managed to Herculean achievement of launching Masterpiece Theater on PBS?  The honor goes to The First Churchills (1969), a still remarkable telling of the biography of the Churchill family by Winston Churchill himself with a teleplay adaptation by Donald Wilson.  Telling about the events surrounding the bringing together of the first Duke & Duchess of Marlborough in the later 1600s.  The episodes are:

 

1)     The Chaste Nymph

2)     Bridals

3)     Plot Counter-Plot

4)     The Lion & The Unicorn

5)     Rebellion

6)     The Protestant Wind

7)     Trial Of Strength

8)     The Queen Commands

9)     Reconciliation

10)  A Famous Victory

11)  Breaking The Circle

12)  Not Without Honour

 

 

As played by John Neville (Terry Gilliam’s Adventures Of Baron Munchausen) and Susan Hampshire (Nancherrow, reviewed elsewhere on this site), they head a strong cast that brings the history to life, as well as life to the history.  Sarah Jennings (Hampshire, in a role originally intended for Judy Dench) meets and is immediately interested in John Churchill (Neville, in great classical form).  Fortunately for her, the feel will turn out to be mutual, but unrest as they meet, then as they climb to power follows them throughout.  Without some stupid violent moments we would see in would-be Barry Lyndon adaptations of such material, this is dialogue-based in layers and has a moderate intensity that is to be admired.  No wonder Masterpiece Theater is still on to this day.  The script is very literate and rich in the goings-on without being watered down or compromised in any way.  This is a series for those with strong attention spans, though many who did not get it simply took it as “stuffy” TV.  However, the 12 nearly hour-long installments flow together remarkably well and the program does not feel dated in the least except by its technical presentation.  Director David Giles also should get some credit, now a TV veteran, recently responsible for helming the Hetty Waithropp Investigates series.  He has the right pacing and can handle a big cast of superior actors, something most feature film directors could not.

 

The full frame 1.33 X 1 image was shot on 2-inch PAL format videotape and looks very good for its age.  The masters must have been in pretty good print to yield these images.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 takes the original broadcast monophonic sound and boosts it for stereo in a way that is not distorted or phony.  These qualities come together for an exceptional presentation; as good as any taped productions form the late 1960s we have seen on DVD to date.  We see enough of them.  All the DVD extras are on DVD 1 and include an on camera interview with Susan Hampshire (18:35), a photo gallery and a filmography on many of the cast that goes to the next actor as you finish off each list.  Why can’t more DVDs with this feature be issued this way?  In addition, a paper fold out is in one of the four DVD cases (DVD 1 in this copy) of the Churchill Family Tree, glossary, some love letters and a description of each of the persons portrayed.

 

Hampshire deserves special note here, pulling off the role in a way I doubt even Judy Dench could have, offering a kind of innocence Dench’s self-assuredness would hold back, even when she could present herself at her most vulnerable and upset.  With Dench entering a stratum of Pop culture starting with her turn as the new “M” in the James Bond series, her earlier work is subtly changed with that informed role to the audience.  Hampshire cannot distract like that, allowing the viewer to more easily get lost in the production.

 

The conflict over power, money, religion and even class struggle could only lead to this “quality television’ giving way to the likes of Upstairs, Downstairs, but it was certainly fresh and very original here.  When I was growing up, people got a kick out of this.  I personally was amazed that these people were considered the educated upper crust, characters and actors, yet it was bad to say bastard while they made it into an art form.  I do not know how absolutely accurate historically this series is, but it holds together well enough.  History buffs so high on Ken Burns and several cable/satellite channels will want to catch this as well.  The First Churchills is simply a TV classic.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo