Debuting on Saturday 30 October 1965, this BBC2 production (recorded in the BBC’s Glasgow studio) was an adaptation of the 1901 Thomas Mann novel – one of the numerous victims of Adolf Hitler’s pyromania.
The story chronicled the effect of the changing commercial and philosophical climate of the 19th century on the Buddenbrooks – a rich merchant family in a North German seaport.
The family had prospered in the first half of the century, and now Johann (William Fox) had inherited and expanded the Buddenbrooks business.
He and his wife, the Frau Consul (Jean Anderson), had three children: Thomas (Nigel Stock), his eldest son, was a serious boy who quickly showed interest in the business and a proper sense of family responsibility; Christian (Kenneth Griffith) seemed to lack these and many other qualities, while his daughter Antonia – known as ‘Tony’ (Elizabeth Shepherd, pictured below) was an intelligent, strong-willed girl.
It was in her fortunes, as the years rolled on towards 1900, that the fate of the Buddenbrooks was reflected.
Elizabeth Shepherd – who had been selected as the new female sidekick, Emma Peel, in The Avengersbut then replaced by Diana Rigg after shooting an episode and a half – had a demanding role in which the character of Toni passed from spirited girlhood to gloomy middle age.
Annette Carrell played Thomas’ wife, Gerda, who brought artistic values into a materialistic family.
Christian Buddenbrooks
Kenneth Griffith Thomas Buddenbrooks
Nigel Stock Tony (Antonia) Buddenbrooks
Elizabeth Shepherd Ida Jungmann
Selma Vaz Dias Consul Johann Buddenbrooks
William Fox Frau Consul
Jean Anderson Pfiffi
Rosalind Knight Gerda Arnoldsen
Annette Carell Frederike
Ellen Pollock Henriette
Joan Hart Sesemi Weichbredt
Anne Pichon Erica Grünlich
Vivien Heilbron Pastor Pringsheim
Richard Bebb Clara
Tamara Hinchco Pastor Tiburtius
Andrew Sachs Herr Permaneder
David Swift Hermann Hagenström
Gertan Klauber Grobleben
John Barrett Grünlich
Roger Croucher Erica Grünlich
Janet Hannington Hanno
Martin Norton Babette
Margaret Nolan
Episodes
Tony | Homecoming | Children’s Day | Tony Again | Lengthening Shadows | Tom | Silent Night
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The story chronicled the effect of the changing commercial and philosophical climate of the 19th century on the Buddenbrooks – a rich merchant family in a North German seaport.
It was in her fortunes, as the years rolled on towards 1900, that the fate of the Buddenbrooks was reflected.
