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    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Television»Drama
    Drama TV Shows - 1970s 4 Mins Read

    Churchill’s People

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    1 9 7 5 (UK)
    26 x 50 minute episodes

    Churchill’s People was, without doubt, the turkey of 1975, although those who wish to be charitable might say that Gerard Savory’s eight-years-in-the-making 26-part series based on Churchill’s History of the English-Speaking Peoples was dogged with bad luck.

    An industrial dispute caused a postponement, which meant the series missed the 1974 Churchill centenary year.

    It began (as did the critical slings and arrows) on New Year’s Eve with the first part, life in AD 43, which included the Roman invasion – by an army of two people!

    But by then BBC bosses had already surrendered. They’d barely trailed anything of the £1¼ million series and refused to show previews to critics (a sure sign they knew the series was a flop). They scheduled it after the nine o’clock news and opposite ITV’s ratings-topper Public Eye.

    Still, on and on, down the centuries Churchill’s People battled, the 800 leading actors, 1,000 extras and 20 directors bravely ignoring the audience’s non-Churchillian V-sign and dismissing claims that their efforts resembled a Women’s Institute pageant in a slightly tatty town hall.

    The series was bogged down by cheap sets, confused performances and a dismal over-reliance on expository dialogue.

    When BBC1’s new controller Brian Cowgill slotted Kojak in front of it some British viewers stayed tuned, perhaps gaining a little history with a giggle, but American viewers couldn’t switch off fast enough.

    Dennis Waterman, who played the part of King Harold, fought a personal setback when he really did get something smack in the eye in a field near Hastings. It was nothing to do with the longbow, it was the lace of his cloak.

    Dennis – who needed to survive the Norman Conquest in good nick to start thumping thugs again in The Sweeney the following week – required medical treatment, rest and new makeup, all of which delayed the recording of the battle.

    Still, the episode ended on the eve of the King’s clash with William The Conqueror, so at least he didn’t have to keep an eye out for anything else.

    King James I
    Alfred Lynch
    Oliver Cromwell
    Bernard Hepton
    Ealdred, Archbishop of York
    Geoffrey Matthews
    King Charles I 
    Daniel Brian
    Philip 
    Geoffrey Beevers
    Lucius 
    Jeremy Kemp
    Donald MacAmnay
    Patrick Allen
    Leo Hennessey
    Ray Barrett
    Bob Pott
    Rodney Bewes
    Jahn 
    Colin Blakely
    Tom Mackenzie
    Tom Conti
    William Wallace
    Brian Cox
    Aaron Graham
    Edward Fox
    Thomas Partridge
    Derek Francis
    King Henry III
    Derek Godfrey
    William Davenant
    Ian Hendry
    King Alfred
    Alan Howard
    Henry, Bishop of Norwich
    Michael Jayston
    Claudius 
    Richard Johnson
    Margaret Paston
    Gemma Jones
    William Brewster
    Robert Keegan
    John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester
    Michael Kitchen
    George Campsie
    Sam Kydd
    William the Ewerer
    Dinsdale Landen
    Hugh Goodrest
    Robert Lang
    James Ings
    Bryan Marshall
    King Penda
    Leo McKern
    Sir Walter Raleigh
    John Turner
    Edward the Confessor
    John Wood
    Lord Sidmouth
    Roland Culver
    John Loxley
    Clive Francis
    Duke of Portland
    Charles Gray
    King John
    Kenneth Griffith
    Anna Partridge
    Elvi Hale
    King Oswy
    Robert Hardy
    George Loveless
    Barry Jackson
    Epillicus, the Barber
    Arthur Lowe
    Alice Campsie
    Sheila Manahan
    Queen Ealhswith
    Anna Massey
    Simon de Montfort
    Daniel Massey
    King Edward I
    Stephen Murray
    King Charles II
    Denis Quilley
    Mrs Trundle
    Rita Webb
    Caradoc 
    Frederick Jaeger
    Samuel Jenks
    Geoffrey Bayldon
    Guthrum 
    Brian Blessed
    Anne, Lady Rochester
    Isabel Dean
    Titania 
    Polly James
    Bishop Wishart
    Fulton Mackay
    Jack Plaster
    Arthur Mullard
    Ranulf 
    Richard O’Callaghan
    Samuel Partridge
    Geoffrey Palmer
    Laurence Kemys
    Gareth Thomas
    Hainault 
    Patrick Troughton
    King Harold II
    Dennis Waterman
    Colonel John Hewson
    John Woodvine
    Elizabeth Rush
    Annette Crosbie
    Samuel Ross
    Jeremy Irons
    John Church
    Tony Selby
    Colonel Michelburn
    George Sewell
    Boudicca 
    Claire Davenport
    Wulfric 
    Patrick Stewart
    Richard Lionheart
    Clinton Greyn

    Episodes

    Pritan | The Lost Island | The Coming of the Cross | King Alfred | The Saxon Dusk | The Conquerors | A Sprig of Broom | Silver Giant, Wooden Dwarf | On the Anvil | The Wallace | Shouts and Murmurs | A Wilderness of Roses | The Whip of Heaven | A Rich and Beautiful Empire | America! America! | March On, Boys! | The Agreement of the People | A Bill of Mortality | The Derry Boys | The Fine Art of Bubble-Blowing | O Canada | Liberty Tree | Mother India | Mutiny | True Patriots All | Death of Liberty

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