''The Collection'' is a

streaming television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air a ...

period drama series, focusing on the Paris fashion scene after World War II. It is a co-production

Amazon Studios Amazon Studios is an American television and film producer and distributor that is a subsidiary of Amazon. It specializes in developing television series and distributing and producing films. It was started in late 2010. Content is distributed th ...

, BBC Worldwide's Lookout Point, Federation Entertainment and , It premiered on 2 September 2016.

Plot

The series focuses on brothers Paul and Claude Sabine at their family's Paris fashion house. Around them, the city is emerging from the

Occupation Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. The charming and outgoing Paul has the business savvy of the two brothers. Claude is the artistic talent, but also introverted,

misanthropic Misanthropy is the general hatred, dislike, distrust or contempt of the human species, human behavior or human nature. A misanthrope or misanthropist is someone who holds such views or feelings. The word's origin is from the Greek words μῖσ ...

and homosexual. Paul seeks to stake a claim in the top tiers of the Paris fashion scene as the city poises itself to reclaim the title of

fashion capital A fashion capital is a city with major influence on international fashion scene, from history, heritage, designers, trends, styles, to manufacturing innovation and retailing of fashion products, including events such as fashion weeks, fashion cou ...

of the world. He encounters obstacles in the forms of his past, his conniving mother's actions and the competitive environment of the industry. Paul's American wife, Helen, comes from a wealthy family whose money helped the Sabine fashion house survive during austere times. Throughout the first season, she and Paul face marital problems due to his many secrets. Claude, meanwhile, grapples with the emotional trauma of a vicious attack and robbery by a lover who then suddenly disappeared. He also longs for more recognition of his artistic contributions to the Sabine house, but his efforts are often thwarted by his dominating family and his own

anti-social behavior Antisocial behavior is a behavior that is defined as the violation of the rights of others by committing crime, such as stealing and physical attack in addition to other behaviors such as lying and manipulation. It is considered to be disrupti ...

. The series also follows Billy Novak, a young American photographer who is hired by the Sabine family. He is inspired by and falls in love with a seamstress-turned-model named Nina. She, however, is more concerned with finding the illegitimate son she was recently forced to give up for adoption. The series includes the lives and relationships of other employees in the fashion house. It also addresses the atmosphere of uneasiness and paranoia that arose in the Cold War era, as well as the hunt for former

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 ...

collaborators.

Cast

Richard Coyle Richard Coyle is an English actor. He portrayed lead role of Father Faustus Blackwood in Netflix series '' Chilling Adventures of Sabrina'', and Jeff Murdock in the sitcom ''Coupling''. Early and personal life Coyle was born in Sheffield, En ...

as Paul Sabine * Tom Riley as Claude Sabine *

Mamie Gummer Mary Willa "Mamie" Gummer (born August 3, 1983) is an American actress. She starred in the title role of The CW series ''Emily Owens, M.D.'' (2012–2013), and played the recurring role of Nancy Crozier on '' The Good Wife'' (2010–2015) and its ...

as Helen Sabine * Frances de la Tour as Yvette * Jenna Thiam as Nina * Max Deacon as Billy Novak * as Charlotte * Alexandre Brasseur as Victor *

Irène Jacob Irène Marie Jacob (born 15 July 1966) is a French-Swiss actress known for her work with Polish film director Krzysztof Kieślowski. She won the 1991 Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress for the Kieślowski film ''The Double Life of Vero ...

as Marianne *

Poppy Corby-Tuech Poppy Colette Corby-Tuech (born 1987) is a British actress. She is known for portraying Prudence in the E! soap opera '' The Royals'', and for her role as Vinda Rosier in ''Fantastic Beasts''. Early life Corby-Tuech was born to Michel Corby-Tuec ...

as Dominique * Bethan Mary James as Juliette *

Sarah Parish Sarah Parish (born 7 June 1968) is an English actress. She is known for her work on television series including: ''The Pillars of the Earth'', ''Peak Practice'', '' Hearts and Bones'', ''Cutting It'', ''Doctor Who'', '' Mistresses'', ''Merlin'', ...

as Marjorie Stutter *

James Cosmo James Ronald Gordon Copeland , known professionally as James Cosmo (b. 1947), is a Scottish film and television actor known for his appearances in films including ''Highlander'', ''Braveheart'', '' Trainspotting'', ''Jagame Thandhiram'', ''Tro ...

as Jules Trouvier * Michael Kitchen as Lemaire *

Allan Corduner Allan Corduner (; born 2 April 1950) is a British actor. Born in Stockholm to a German mother and a Russo-Finnish father, Corduner grew up in a secular Jewish home in London. After earning a BA (Hons) in English and Drama at Bristol Univer ...

as Bompard *

Stanley Townsend Stanley Townsend (born August 1961) is an Irish actor. Personal life Townsend was born and brought up in Dublin. After attending Wesley College, Dublin, he studied mathematics and civil engineering at Trinity College. While there he joined the ...

as Stanley Rossi *

Michelle Gomez Michelle Gomez (born 23 November 1966) is a Scottish actress. She gained recognition for her roles in the comedy series ''The Book Group'' (2002–2003), ''Green Wing'' (2004–2007), and '' Bad Education'' (2012–2013). She went on to appear ...

as Eliette *

Jacob Fortune-Lloyd Jacob Fortune-Lloyd (born 18 January 1988) is an English actor. He has played the role of Francis Weston in the BBC series ''Wolf Hall'' (2015), Francesco Salviati in '' Medici'' (2018), and Townes in the Netflix chess period drama '' The Queen' ...

as Cesar

Production

The eight-part series was filmed in Wales, France and Pinewood Studios in the first half of 2016 and marked the first time a continental-European public national broadcaster has collaborated with a major subscription

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of ...

platform, a global distributor and a British production company, on an English-language drama. The creator,

Oliver Goldstick Oliver Goldstick (born January 9, 1961) is an American television screenwriter and executive producer, working on Netflix’s new series Bridgerton. Prior to this, Goldstick launched High School Musical: The Series for Disney + and spent seven y ...

, was previously an executive producer of the fashion drama series ''

Ugly Betty ''Ugly Betty'' is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which was originally broadcast on ABC. It premiered on September 28, 2006, and ended on April 14, 2010. The series is based on Fernando Gaitán's Colombi ...

''.

Episodes

Broadcast

In Australia, the series premiered on

BBC First BBC First is an entertainment subscription television channel featuring comedy, crime, drama and film programming, originating from UK and mostly from the BBC. The channel is wholly owned and operated by BBC Studios. The channel began rolling ou ...

on 14 March 2017. In South Korea, KBS 1TV started to air it on 30 June 2017. In Russia, the series premiered on

Channel One Russia Channel One ( rus, Первый канал, r=Pervyy kanal, p=ˈpʲervɨj kɐˈnal, t=First Channel) is a Russian state-controlled television channel. It is the first television channel to broadcast in the Russian Federation. Its headquarters ...

on 17 July 2017. In the United States, it began airing under the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

Masterpiece umbrella on 8 October 2017.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Collection, The 2010s British drama television series 2010s French drama television series Amazon Prime Video original programming 2016 British television series debuts 2016 British television series endings English-language television shows Serial drama television series Fashion-themed television series Television series by Amazon Studios Television series by BBC Studios