''A Rather English Marriage'' is a

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

Angela Lambert Angela Maria Lambert (née Helps; 14 April 1940 – 26 September 2007) was a British journalist and author. She is best known for her novels ''A Rather English Marriage'' and ''Kiss and Kin'', the latter of which won the Romantic Novelists' Asso ...

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

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

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 served in the armed forces, Reggie Conyngham-Jervis having been an officer, and Roy Southgate an ex- NCO. The 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, ends in failure, is left alone.

Television adaptation

The television adaptation, first screened on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

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, he achieved prominence in the 1960s as part of actors of the British New Wave. Courtenay has received numerous acco ...

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 fame for movie acting during the early 1960s, debuting with '' The Entertainer'' ( ...

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 Indian-born British actress, presenter, author, television producer, activist and former model. She has won two BAFTA TV Awards for her role as Patsy Stone in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulo ...

as Liz,

Ursula Howells Ursula Howells (17 September 1922 – 16 October 2005) was an English actress whose elegant presence kept her much in demand for roles in film and television. Life and career Howells was born in London, the daughter of composer Herbert 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). Their first song was the 1963 hit " Yesterday’s Gone". The duo became mor ...

as Reggie's nephew. The show won the

BAFTA Awards The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs or BAFTA Awards, is an annual film award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best Cinema of the United Kingdom, British and Worl ...

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

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress award ...

(Joanna Lumley) and

Best Sound The following is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various films, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Bes ...

. 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 Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

and the

Royal Television Society Award 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 ...

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 Films with screenplays by Andrew Davies 1998 films Hamish Hamilton books