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''Byron'' is a British television film based on the adult life of English poet
Lord Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...
. Written by
Nick Dear
Nick Dear (born 11 June 1955) is an English writer for stage, screen and radio. He received a BAFTA for his first screenwriting credit, a film adaptation of Jane Austen's '' Persuasion''.
Education
Dear graduated with a degree in Comparative ...
and directed by
Julian Farino
Julian Farino (born 12 December 1965) is an English film and television producer and director. He was the sports editor of ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and directed much of the first three seasons of the HBO series '' Entourage''.
Farino ...
, it features
Jonny Lee Miller
Jonathan Lee Miller (born 15 November 1972) is a British film, television and theatre actor. He achieved early success for his portrayal of Simon "Sick Boy" Williamson in the dark comedy-drama film '' Trainspotting'' (1996) and as Dade Murphy i ...
in the title role alongside
Vanessa Redgrave
Dame Vanessa Redgrave (born 30 January 1937) is an English actress and activist. Throughout her career spanning over seven decades, Redgrave has garnered numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Television Award, tw ...
who portrays
Lady Melbourne. It was first aired by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
in two, 75 minute parts in September 2003.
Cast
Episodes
Production
The drama was announced in November 2002 by BBC Controller of Drama Commissioning
Jane Tranter
Jane Tranter (born 17 March 1963) is an English television executive who was the executive vice-president of programming and production at BBC Worldwide's Los Angeles base from 2009 until 2015. From 2006 to 2008, she was the BBC's controller of ...
, written by
Nick Dear
Nick Dear (born 11 June 1955) is an English writer for stage, screen and radio. He received a BAFTA for his first screenwriting credit, a film adaptation of Jane Austen's '' Persuasion''.
Education
Dear graduated with a degree in Comparative ...
and to be directed by
Julian Farino
Julian Farino (born 12 December 1965) is an English film and television producer and director. He was the sports editor of ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and directed much of the first three seasons of the HBO series '' Entourage''.
Farino ...
. Writing about the announcement for ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was f ...
'', Tom Leonard said that the production "is the latest example of the corporation's fixation with producing period dramas that are 'relevant to a modern audience'". It was produced by Ruth Baumgarten with executive producers Laura Mackie, Hilary Salmon and Andrea Miller.
Miller said that as a result of his portrayal, his opinion of Byron was that: "He had the ability to be an extraordinarily nice, kind man but he could also be really quite cruel when he made his mind up about somebody. I certainly don't like the way he treated some people."
Lady Caroline Lamb was seen by Power as a "child woman, incredibly vulnerable and one of those people with a huge life force".
Reception
According to overnight figures, 2.1 million viewers (12% audience share) saw the first part with 1.8 million viewers (11% share) watching the second following the BBC Two broadcast.
In a preview ahead of its airing on
BBC America
BBC America is an American basic cable network that is jointly owned by BBC Studios and AMC Networks. The channel primarily airs sci-fi and action series and films, as well as selected programs from the BBC (such as its nature documentary seri ...
in 2005, ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' said that the film "paints a sympathetic, at times serious-minded portrait without glossing over his vanity and artful affectations", and that Miller "skillfully blends his restless passion and moments of sour self-awareness". Writing for
British Film Institute's
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
Screenonline
Screenonline is a website about the history of British film, television and social history as documented by film and television. The project has been developed by the British Film Institute and funded by a £1.2 million grant from the National Lo ...
website,
Alexander Larman
Alexander Larman (born 29 November 1981) is a British author, journalist, historian, and literary editor of The Spectator World. A writer of multiple historical biographies, including those of John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, Lord Byron and E ...
also praised Miller's performance, saying in a profile of the actor that his portrayal of Byron was "sensitive and nuanced". Peter Chochran, writing about Byron portrayal on screen, described Miller as "outstanding in the lead: the most successful screen Byron there is".
Jenny Bevan won the Costume Design (Drama) award at the
Royal Television Society Craft and Design Awards in 2004 for her work on the production. The awards also saw John Paul Kelly nominated in the Production Design (Drama) category.
References
External links
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''Byron'' BBC press pack{Dead link, date=June 2021 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes
BBC television dramas
Biographical films about poets
2003 British television series debuts
2003 British television series endings
2000s British drama television series
2000s British television miniseries
British television films
Period television series
2003 films
Films set in the 1810s
Films set in the 1820s
English-language television shows
Films directed by Julian Farino