''Number 10'' was a 1983

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

originally aired on ITV and lasting for 7 episodes from 13 February to 27 March 1983. It depicted the personal and political lives of seven British Prime Ministers, ranging from the 1780s to the 1920s, during their occupancy of

10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London is the official residence and office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister of the United Kingdom. Colloquially known as Number 10, the building is located in Downing Street, off Whitehall in th ...

. The series was a revealing insight on some of the more personal incidents in the lives of past British Prime Ministers and explored the effect the Prime Ministers had on the house.

Cast

The prime ministers

Denis Quilley Denis Clifford Quilley (26 December 1927 – 5 October 2003) was an English actor and singer. From a family with no theatrical connections, Quilley was determined from an early age to become an actor. He was taken on by the Birmingham Repertor ...

William Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he was Prime Minister ...

(Episode 1: 'Old Glad Eyes') *

Ian Richardson Ian William Richardson (7 April 19349 February 2007) was a Scottish actor. He was best known for his portrayal of Conservative politician Francis Urquhart in the BBC's '' House of Cards'' (1990–1995) television trilogy, as well as the pivot ...

Ramsay MacDonald James Ramsay MacDonald (; 12 October 18669 November 1937) was a British statesman and politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The first two of his governments belonged to the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, where he led ...

(Episode 2: 'Underdog') *

John Stride John Edward Stride (11 July 1936 – 20 April 2018) was an English actor best known for his television work in the 1970s. Biography Stride was born in London, the son of Margaret (née Prescott) and Alfred Teneriffe Stride. He attended Alleyn' ...

David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. A Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, he was known for leadi ...

(Episode 3: 'A Woman of Style') *

Bernard Archard Bernard Joseph Archard (20 August 1916 – 1 May 2008) was an English actor who made many film and television appearances. Early life and career Archard was born in Fulham, London, where his father Alfred James Aloysius, who was born in Maryle ...

Duke of Wellington Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they ar ...

(Episode 4: 'The Iron Duke') *

David Langton David Muir Langton (born Basil Muir Langton-Dodds; 16 April 1912 – 25 April 1994) was a British actor who is best remembered for playing Richard Bellamy in the period drama '' Upstairs, Downstairs''. Early years David Langton was born Basi ...

H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928) was a British statesman and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916. He was the last ...

(Episode 5: 'The Asquiths') *

Richard Pasco Richard Edward Pasco (18 July 1926 – 12 November 2014) was a British stage, screen and television actor. Early life Pasco was born in Barnes, Surrey, the only child of insurance company clerk Cecil George Pasco (1897–1982) and milliner Ph ...

Benjamin Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman, Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician and writer who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a ...

(Episode 6: 'Dizzy') *

Jeremy Brett Peter Jeremy William Huggins (3 November 1933 – 12 September 1995), known professionally as Jeremy Brett, was an English actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes from 1984 to 1994 in 41 episodes of a Sherlock Holmes (1984 TV ...

William Pitt the Younger William Pitt (28 May 1759 – 23 January 1806) was a British statesman who served as the last prime minister of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain from 1783 until the Acts of Union 1800, and then first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, p ...

(Episode 7: 'Bloodline')

Selected others

Gabrielle Drake Gabrielle Drake (born 30 March 1944) is a British actress. She appeared in the 1970s in television series '' The Brothers'' and '' UFO''. In the early 1970s she appeared in several erotic roles on screen. She later took parts in soap operas '' ...

as Harriet Arbuthnot *

Caroline Langrishe Caroline Langrishe (born 10 January 1958) is an English actress. Early life Born in London, Langrishe is the elder daughter of Patrick Nicholas Langrishe (1932–2022), of The Manor House, Sellindge, Kent, a Lieutenant in the 11th Hussars, late ...

Eleanor Eden Eleanor Agnes Hobart, Countess of Buckinghamshire (''née'' Eden; 1777 – October 1851) was the eldest child of Lord Auckland. As a young woman, she was rumoured to have been engaged to William Pitt the Younger, the Prime Minister, but he disa ...

* Frances Bennett as Duchess of Gordon *

Barbara Kellerman Barbara Rose Kellerman (originally spelt Kellermann; born 30 December 1949) is an English actress, known for her film and television roles. Early life Kellerman was born in Manchester, Lancashire. Her Jewish father, Walter Kellermann (1915� ...

Frances Stevenson Frances Lloyd George, Countess Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (née Stevenson; 7 October 1888 – 5 December 1972) was the mistress, personal secretary, confidante and second wife of British Prime Minister David Lloyd George. Early life Frances Louis ...

Alfred Burke Alfred Burke (28 February 1918 – 16 February 2011) was an English actor who played Frank Marker in the drama series '' Public Eye'', which ran on television for ten years. Early life Born in London's southeast district of Peckham, the son of ...

William Pitt the Elder William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham (15 November 170811 May 1778) was a British Whig statesman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768. Historians call him "Chatham" or "Pitt the Elder" to distinguish him from his son ...

Keith Barron Keith Barron (8 August 1934 – 15 November 2017) was an English actor and television presenter who appeared in films and on television from 1961 until 2017. His television roles included the police drama '' The Odd Man'', the sitcom '' Duty Fr ...

Earl of Chatham Earl of Chatham, of Chatham in the County of Kent, was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1766 for William Pitt the Elder on his appointment as Lord Privy Seal, along with the subsidiary title of Viscount Pitt, of Burton ...

Patrick Newell Patrick David Newell (27 March 1932 – 22 July 1988) was a British actor perhaps best known for playing Mother in '' The Avengers''. Early life and education The second son of Eric Llewellyn Newell, of High Lodge, Hadleigh, Suffolk, an Oxf ...

Lord North Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford (13 April 17325 August 1792), better known by his courtesy title Lord North, which he used from 1752 to 1790, was Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1770 to 1782. He led Great Britain through most of the ...

David Ryall David John Ryall
Retrieved 28 December 2014 (5 January 1935 – 25 December 201 ...

Charles James Fox Charles James Fox (24 January 1749 – 13 September 1806), styled ''The Honourable'' from 1762, was a British British Whig Party, Whig politician and statesman whose parliamentary career spanned 38 years of the late 18th and early 19th centurie ...

Terence Harvey Terence John Humes (October 1944 – 7 September 2017), known professionally as Terence Harvey, was a British television actor. Among his many roles was the prosecution counsel in '' The Execution of Gary Glitter''. He also appeared in '' From Hel ...

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

* David Neal as Anthony Addington * Jeffrey Wickham as

Duke of Richmond Duke of Richmond is a title in the Peerage of England that has been created four times in British history. It has been held by members of the royal Tudor and Stuart families. The current dukedom of Richmond was created in 1675 for Charles ...

* Charles Stapley as

Lord Auckland Baron Auckland is a title in both the Peerage of Ireland and the Peerage of Great Britain. The first creation came in 1789 when the prominent politician and financial expert William Eden was made Baron Auckland in the Peerage of Ireland. In 1 ...

* Duncan Royce Hiley Addington *

Philip Latham Charles Philip Latham (17 January 1929 – 20 June 2020) was an English actor. He was best known for playing Willy Izard in '' The Troubleshooters'' (1965–1972) and Plantagenet Palliser in '' The Pallisers'' (1974). Early life Latham was bor ...

Charles Arbuthnot Charles Arbuthnot (14 March 1767 – 18 August 1850) was a British diplomat and Tory politician. He was Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire between 1804 and 1807 and held a number of political offices. He was a good friend of the Duke of Welling ...

* Peter Gale as

Robert Peel Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850), was a British Conservative statesman who twice was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835, 1841–1846), and simultaneously was Chancellor of the Exchequer (1834–183 ...

* Michael Barrington as

William Huskisson William Huskisson (11 March 177015 September 1830) was a British statesman, financier, and Member of Parliament for several constituencies, including Liverpool. He is commonly known as the world's first widely reported railway passenger ca ...

Production

Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

built an exact replica of No. 10 Downing Street for the series in a massive warehouse outside

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

.Panoramas newspaper TV and Radio Guide; 09/04/1984-15/04/1984

References

Terence Feely Terence John Feely (20 July 1928 – 13 August 2000) was a British screenwriter, playwright and author. His work spanned five decades and included creating the ITV police drama series ''The Gentle Touch'' (1980–84) and its spin-off '' C.A ...

, ''Number 10: The Private Lives of Six Prime Ministers'' (Sidgwick & Jackson, 1982)

External links