''A Rather English Marriage'' is a

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself ...

Angela Lambert Angela Maria Lambert (née Helps; 14 April 1940 – 26 September 2007) was a British journalist, art critic, and author. She is best known for her novels ''A Rather English Marriage'' and ''Kiss and Kin'', the latter of which won the Romantic No ...

, first published in 1992, and later adapted for television by Andrew Davies for the BBC.

Plot summary

The book's plot concerns two retired men who are thrown together following the deaths of their wives in the same hospital. Both have served in the armed forces, one, Reggie Conyngham-Jervis, being a former officer, the other, Roy Southgate, an ex- NCO. The perceived class differences lead to Roy moving in with Reggie and being treated as an unpaid servant. The reader's sympathies are with Roy as he remains humble and faithful to his purpose until Reggie becomes too domineering. Roy remarries, and Reggie, whose attempt to seduce a younger widow, Liz Franks, has ended in failure, is left alone.

Television adaptation

The television adaptation, first screened on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream a ...

on 30 December 1998 and later released on DVD, is directed by Paul Seed. It stars

Tom Courtenay Sir Thomas Daniel Courtenay (; born 25 February 1937) is an English actor. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Courtenay achieved prominence in the 1960s with a series of acclaimed film roles, including ''The Loneliness of t ...

as Roy and

Albert Finney Albert Finney (9 May 1936 – 7 February 2019) was an English actor. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and worked in the theatre before attaining prominence on screen in the early 1960s, debuting with '' The Entertainer'' (1960 ...

as Reggie, and stays close to the plot of the book until the ending, when the two old men end up staying together. The adaptation also starred

Joanna Lumley Dame Joanna Lamond Lumley (born 1 May 1946) is an English actress, presenter, former model, author, television producer, and activist. She has won two BAFTA TV Awards for her role as Patsy Stone in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulous'' (1992 ...

as Liz, Ursula Howells as Reggie's wife, Mary, and

Jeremy Clyde Michael Jeremy Thomas Clyde (born 22 March 1941) is an English actor and musician. During the 1960s, he was one-half of the folk duo Chad & Jeremy (with Chad Stuart), who had little success in the UK, but were an object of interest to American ...

as Reggie's nephew. The show won the

BAFTA Awards The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cere ...

for

Best Actor Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play. The term most often refers to the ...

(Tom Courtenay), Best Editing, Best Original Television Music and Best Single Drama. It also received nominations for Best Actor (Albert Finney), Best Actress (Joanna Lumley) and Best Sound. It also received the

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

and the

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

Award for Best Single Drama.59th Annual Peabody Awards
May 2000.

References

External links

''A Rather English Marriage'' @BBC Programmes
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rather English Marriage, A 1992 British novels English novels Peabody Award-winning broadcasts 1998 television films 1998 films Hamish Hamilton books