''Christabel'' is a four-part British drama series first shown on

BBC2 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 ...

between 16 November and 7 December 1988.''Christabel''
BFI Film & TV database It is based on the memoirs of

Christabel Bielenberg Christabel Mary Bielenberg (''née'' Burton, 18 June 1909 – 2 November 2003) was a British writer who was married to a German lawyer, Peter Bielenberg. She described her experiences living in Germany during the Second World War in two books: ' ...

, an English woman married to a German lawyer during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The screenplay was written by

Dennis Potter Dennis Christopher George Potter (17 May 1935 – 7 June 1994) was an English television dramatist, screenwriter and journalist. He is best known for his BBC television serials '' Pennies from Heaven'' (1978), ''The Singing Detective'' (198 ...

, and was directed by

Adrian Shergold Adrian Shergold (born 24 March 1948 in Croydon, Surrey) is a British film and television director. Selected filmography *'' Danielle Cable: Eyewitness'' (2003) *'' Dirty Filthy Love'' (2004) *''Ahead of the Class'' (2005) *'' Pierrepoint'' (2005) ...

. Each episode runs around 65 minutes. It stars

Elizabeth Hurley Elizabeth Jane Hurley (born 10 June 1965) is an English actress and model. As an actress, her best-known film roles have been as Vanessa Kensington in ''Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery'' (1997) and as the Devil in ''Bedazzled (2000 ...

in one of her earliest leading roles. Part of the series was filmed at the disused Camperdown Works jute mill complex in

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

, which doubled for 1940s

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

. Other scenes were filmed in Hungary and Austria.

Synopsis

An Englishwoman's love for a German lawyer is at the heart of one of the most extraordinary stories of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. Christabel Burton's aspiration of living in harmony with her husband Peter Bielenberg is shattered when Germany slips into the full horror of the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

regime and war is declared. Life for Christabel and Peter becomes a fight to survive, a struggle to hold on to human decency.

Gibraltar Chronicle The ''Gibraltar Chronicle'' is a national newspaper published in Gibraltar since 1801. It became a daily in 1821. It is Gibraltar's oldest established daily newspaper and the world's second oldest English language newspaper to have been in pr ...

newspaper; Entertainment Guide section; 13 April 1995; Page 9 In the first episode, as wedding bells peal out across the English countryside, the bride's father is begging her to change her mind. The village congregation is shocked when the bridegroom responds in German. But Christabel insists on making an "impossible decision" – a commitment to married life in a country soon to be at war with her own.

Cast

Home media

A shortened film version (of the TV series), running time approximately 2 hours, was released as a DVD by Guillotine Films in 2004.

References

External links

* 1988 British television series debuts 1988 British television series endings 1980s British drama television series BBC television dramas Television shows written by Dennis Potter 1980s British television miniseries English-language television shows {{drama-tv-prog-stub