Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
    • Television
      • TV by Decade
        • TV – 1950s
        • TV – 1960s
        • TV – 1970s
        • TV – 1980s
        • TV – 1990s
      • Comedy
      • Drama
      • Kids TV
      • Variety
      • News & Sport
      • Advertisements
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • Music – 1950s
        • Music – 1960s
        • Music – 1970s
        • Music – 1980s
        • Music – 1990s
      • Artists – A to K
        • Artists – A
        • Artists – B
        • Artists – C
        • Artists – D
        • Artists – E
        • Artists – F
        • Artists – G
        • Artists – H
        • Artists – I
        • Artists – J
        • Artists – K
      • Artists – L to Z
        • Artists – L
        • Artists – M
        • Artists – N
        • Artists – O
        • Artists – P
        • Artists – Q
        • Artists – R
        • Artists – S
        • Artists – T
        • Artists – U
        • Artists – V
        • Artists – W
        • Artists – X
        • Artists – Y
        • Artists – Z
      • Artists – 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Playlists
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • Movies – 1950s
        • Movies – 1960s
        • Movies – 1970s
        • Movies – 1980s
        • Movies – 1990s
      • Movies – 0 to 9
      • Movies – A to K
        • Movies – A
        • Movies – B
        • Movies – C
        • Movies – D
        • Movies – E
        • Movies – F
        • Movies – G
        • Movies – H
        • Movies – I
        • Movies – J
        • Movies – K
      • Movies – L to Z
        • Movies – L
        • Movies – M
        • Movies – N
        • Movies – O
        • Movies – P
        • Movies – Q
        • Movies – R
        • Movies – S
        • Movies – T
        • Movies – U
        • Movies – V
        • Movies – W
        • Movies – X
        • Movies – Y
        • Movies – Z
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Television»Drama
    Drama TV Shows - 1980s 2 Mins Read

    Flame Trees Of Thika, The

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    1 9 8 1 (UK)
    7 x 60 minute episodes

    This seven-part series from Euston Films, shot in Kenya, was based on Elspeth Huxley’s autobiography, relating her childhood in Africa on the eve of World War I.

    Unfortunately, filming took place during the dry season and the producers discovered belatedly that flaming flame trees flower suddenly and for short spells only after the brief rains in October and November!

    When scenes of a thunderstorm were needed for episode 4, most of Nairobi’s fire brigade had to open hoses on the dry plains as a crew scuttled off to film some flame trees which researchers had found miraculously flowering some miles away.

    More problems cropped up over scenes where big game was supposed to be killed.

    Luckily stuffed animals from the Nairobi Natural History Museum could be borrowed, but the Kenyan government refused to allow Kikuyu women, who built a house for the Grant family in the story, to be filmed bare-breasted.

    They were conscious of Western racist portrayals of Africans in traditional dress as primitive savages.

    In the end, the Grants, nice-as-pie coffee-growers, scolding servants for their own good, cut little ice with black people in Britain in the year of its worst-ever race riots.

    Elspeth Grant 
    Holly Aird
    Tilly Grant 

    Hayley Mills
    Major Grant
    John Nettleton
    Robin Grant 

    David Robb
    Njombo
    Mick Chege

    Related Posts

    • Bearcats!
      Bearcats!
      1 9 7 1 (USA) 1 x 90 minute episode 13 x 60 minute episodes A CBS drama series set in…
    • Flower of Evil
      Flower of Evil
      1 9 6 1 (UK) 6 x 30 minute episodes This short BBC series opened with Detective Inspector Mitchell of Scotland Yard…
    • Inheritance
      Inheritance
      1 9 6 7 (UK) 10 x 60 minute episodes Adapted from three novels by Dr Phyllis Bentley, Inheritance related the…
    • Screen One
      Screen One
      1 9 8 9 - 1 9 9 8 (UK) 60 x 90/100 minute episodes This television anthology drama series of…
    • Murder Bag
      Murder Bag
      1 9 5 7 - 1 9 5 9 (UK) 56 x 30 minute episodes Debuting in 1957, Murder Bag introduced Raymond Francis…
    • Under Cover
      Under Cover
      1 9 9 1 (USA) 13 x 60 minute episodes This espionage series got into trouble by reflecting real-world events too…
    • Green Man , The
      Green Man , The
      1 9 9 0 (UK) 3 x 50 minute episodes This three-part series was based on the novel by Kingsley…
    • High and Dry
      High and Dry
      1 9 8 7 (UK) 7 x 30 minute episodes One of the worst of ITV's offerings, High and Dry starred Bernard Cribbins and…

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleWinston Churchill – The Wilderness Years
    Next Article Forever Knight

    Comments are closed.

    Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
    You May Also Like
    • Good Will Hunting (1997)
      Winning an Oscar for Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s […]
    • Club X
      1 9 8 9 (UK) 23 x 90 minute episodes This live 90-minute […]
    • Joe and Mabel
      1 9 5 6 (USA) 13 x 30 minute episodes Premiering on CBS on 26 […]
    • Pool of London (1951)
      Into the Pool of London on the River Thames sails the Dunbar, a […]
    • Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler
      America was split by controversy in 1966 over a single that […]
    • Shed Seven
      Shed Seven formed in York (England) in 1990 with frontman Rick […]
    Twitter Feed
    Please note


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    Popular Tags
    1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1975 1976 Action Figures Amicus Arcade games Australia Beach movies Beatles Blaxploitation Board games Britpop Canada Crime Disney Doo-Wop Elvis Presley Girl groups Glam Goth Hammer Heavy Metal Irwin Allen Labels Merseybeat Mod revival Motown New Romantic New Wave NWOBHM Oi! One-hit wonders Power Pop Pub rock Punk Radio Scotland Ska Soul music Sport Surf music
    Search Nostalgia Central
    Copyright © 1998, 2022 Nostalgia Central
    • About Nostalgia Central
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.