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Naomie Harris | Hortense | |
Hugh Quarshie | Narrator | |
David Oyelowo | ||
Benedict Cumberbatch | Bernard | |
Ruth Wilson | Queenie | |
Eoin Macken | Calhoon | |
David Oyelowe | Gilbert | |
Ashley Walters | Michael | |
Shaun Parkes | Winston | |
Nikki Amuka-Bird | Celia | |
Karl Johnson | Arthur Bligh | |
Denise Black | Aunt Dorothy | |
Rachel Pickup | Mrs. Ryder | |
Mary Jo Randle | Queenie's Mother | |
Michael Elwyn | Doctor | |
Roger Sloman | Mr. Todd |
Director |
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Producer | Alison Owen
Paula Milne |
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Writer | Paula Milne
Sarah Williams |
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Cinematography | Tony Miller
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Musician | Martin Phipps
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When Hortense (Naomie Harris) leaves her native island of Jamaica and lands in 1948 London, she dreams of making a better life for herself and expanding her social opportunities. Instead, she's confronted with racism and life's harsh realities. One of the harshest is her marriage of convenience to a man (David Oyelowo) she doesn't love. John Alexander directs this televised adaptation of Andrea Levy's award-winning novel. |
Seen it: Yes 1 hr 30 mins 12/6/2009 1. Episode 1 | ||
London 1948: Hortense joins Gilbert, her new husband, in England, where he is lodging with Queenie Bligh. The women have both married in unpromising circumstances as love is a luxury neither can afford. As Hortense remembers her life in Jamaica and the profound love she had for Michael and his betrayal of her, Queenie also remembers her night of passion with the same Michael when her husband was away at war. Initially suspicious of each other, will they uncover the secret they share?
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Seen it: Yes 1 hr 30 mins 12/13/2009 2. Episode 2 | ||
The emotional and moving climax to the stories of Hortense, Queenie and Gilbert whose lives entwine in post Second World War London. Hortense begins her new life in England and soon learns it is not the golden land she hoped it would be. She and Gilbert suffer racism and ignorance, but in adversity they discover new qualities in each other and begin to fall in love. Queenie is shocked when her husband Bernard returns to her after years away. When she goes into labour and has a baby by a mysterious father, the lives of all four are changed forever.
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