The One Game
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''The One Game'' is a four-part
1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...
British
television drama In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...
serial, produced by Central Independent Television and broadcast on ITV from 4 June to 25 June 1988. Set and filmed in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
, it starred
Patrick Malahide Patrick Gerald Duggan (born 24 March 1945), known professionally as Patrick Malahide, is a veteran British film, television and theatre actor, author and producer, known, amongst other things, for his roles as Inspector Alleyn in '' The Inspec ...
,
Stephen Dillane Stephen John Dillane (; born 27 March 1957) is a British actor. He is best known for his roles as Leonard Woolf in the 2002 film '' The Hours'', Stannis Baratheon in ''Game of Thrones'', and Thomas Jefferson in the 2008 HBO miniseries ''John Ad ...
(credited as "Stephen Dillon"),
Pippa Haywood Philippa Haywood (born 6 May 1961) is a British actress. She won the 2005 Rose d'Or Award for Best Female Comedy Performance for '' Green Wing'' (2004–2006). Her other television credits include '' The Brittas Empire'' (1991–1997), Chimera ...
and Kate McKenzie, and was written by John Brown from a concept by Tony Benet.


Plot

Nick Thorne (Dillane) is a businessman who has achieved success by marketing games. He finds himself drawn into a "reality game" by his former business partner Magnus (Malahide), whom Nick had forced out of their games company after its initial success. Called "The One Game", this sees Nick take on a series of challenges which force him to explore his past, while both his professional and personal life come under threat.


Production

Filming took place in the winter of 1987–8. The production aimed at a surreal rather than a fantasy atmosphere, with an emphasis of only including narrative elements which could occur in real life. Writer John Brown worked an
Arthurian King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as a ...
theme into his scripts, with the idea that the story was about what would happen if
"Arthur said to Merlin after he'd helped set up the Kingdom, 'Get lost. I don't need you any more.'"
with Nick and Magnus as Arthur and Merlin, respectively; images such as a knife thrown into water, and a woman's hand rising from a lake, were likewise based on the legend of
Excalibur Excalibur () is the legendary sword of King Arthur, sometimes also attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. It was associated with the Arthurian legend very early on. Excalibur and the Sword in th ...
. The theme song, " Saylon Dola", and other incidental music by series composer
Nigel Hess Nigel John Hess (born 22 July 1953) is a British composer, best known for his television, theatre and film soundtracks, including the theme tunes to '' Campion'', '' Maigret'', '' Wycliffe'', '' Dangerfield'', ''Hetty Wainthropp Investigates'', ...
built on the use of Celtic mythology by incorporating Welsh-sounding gibberish.


Releases

''The One Game'' was released on Region 2
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
in 2003, in a set which includes a 12-page booklet detailing the series production. ''The One Game'' was re-released by Network DVD in 2016.


References

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External links

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The One Game (2003 release)
on Amazon
The One Game (new release)
on Amazon 1980s British drama television series 1988 British television series debuts 1988 British television series endings 1980s British television miniseries ITV television dramas Television series by ITV Studios Television shows produced by Central Independent Television English-language television shows {{UK-tv-prog-stub