Debuting in October 1979, this 12-part costume romance series from the BBC told the tale of obsessive love and thwarted passion in storm-tossed Cornwall.
The series was brimming with dynastic complexity, spanning the years between 1867 to 1940 and flashing back and forth across three generations. The first episode alone covered 33 years, three generations and three characters called Mark!
It took a while to get the hang of who did whom out of what and when but the series contained all the required cliches of the genre to ensure its success.
Maud Castallack (Angela Scoular) waged war on her cousin Giles Penmar (Shaughan Seymour) for many years in her determination to secure the gloomy Cornwall mansion of Penmarric – which the family called “the inheritance” – for her son, Mark (Martin C Thurley).
But Mark was a man of passion and was beholden to his own desires, being torn between two women – Janna (Annabel Leventon) and Rose (Shirley Steedman). He eventually wed Janna (who had been his father’s mistress), produced four children, raped her, and abandoned her to live with his mistress – all in less than an hour!
Throughout, “the inheritance” was the cause of many legal battles, fist-fights, tears and irritable death-bed scenes – but there was also a lot of hanky-panky around the Cornish coastline, principally in a beach tent.
Mark Castallack
Martin C Thurley (Thomas Ellice) Maud Castallack
Angela Scoular Janna
Annabel Leventon Rose Parrish
Shirley Steedman Philip
Rupert Frazer Jan-Yves
Eric Deacon Laurence Castallack
Ralph Bates Giles Penmar
Shaughan Seymour Griselda
June Ellis Rector Barnwell
Roger Milner Michael Vincent
Peter Blake Medlyn
Maurice Quick
Roy Holder Helena
Fiona Gray Rebecca
Holly De Jong Jared Roslyn
Nick Brimble Felicity
Rosalind Ayres Clarissa Penmar
Lesley Dunlop Adrian
Gene Foad Ira
Iain Anders Alun Trevose
John Patrick Alice Penmar
Kim Braden Hugh
Richard Gibson Nanny
Anna Wing Harry Penmar
William Humbert William
James Healey Mariana
Emma Rogers Joss Roslyn
Vincent Brimble Marcus
Peter Birch Jeanne
Kate Lock Hetty
Debbie Wheeler Young William
William Vahl Young Philip
Matthew Blakstad Trewint
Edward Kelsey Young Mark Castallack
Paul Spurrier Young Mariana
Patsy Kensit Young Adrian
Edward Rawle-Hicks Young Marcus
Paul Erangey Young Hugh
James Cheesman Young Jeanne
Claire Gregory Dr Ormott
Geoffrey Chater Mrs Smith
Lynda La Plante John Henry Roslyn
John Junkin Robert Yorke
Paul Darrow
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Maud Castallack (Angela Scoular) waged war on her cousin Giles Penmar (Shaughan Seymour) for many years in her determination to secure the gloomy Cornwall mansion of Penmarric – which the family called “the inheritance” – for her son, Mark (Martin C Thurley).
