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''Coming Home'' is a 1998 British serial directed by Giles Foster. The teleplay by John Goldsmith is based on the 1995 novel of the same name by
Rosamunde Pilcher Rosamunde Pilcher, OBE (''née'' Scott; 22 September 1924 – 6 February 2019) was a British novelist, best known for her sweeping novels set in Cornwall. Her books have sold over 60 million copies worldwide. Early in her career she was publis ...
. Produced by
Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...
, it was broadcast in two parts by ITV from 12 to 13 April 1998.


Plot

When her parents and younger sister Jess move to
colonial Singapore Singapore was part of the Straits Settlements between 1826 and 1942, together with Penang and Malacca. Singapore was the capital and the seat of government of the Straits Settlements after it was moved from George Town in 1832. From 1830 t ...
, Judith Dunbar is enrolled in St. Ursula's, an English boarding school, where she makes friends with classmate Loveday Carey-Lewis. Loveday invites her to visit Nancherrow, Loveday's parents' magnificent Cornwall estate. Soon, she is spending more time at Nancherrow than with her legal guardian, Aunt Louise. When Aunt Louise is killed in an automobile accident, Judith inherits her considerable estate, meaning she can live as an independent woman for the rest of her life. She moves into Nancherrow permanently. Judith is in love with Loveday's older brother Edward. Believing he loves her too, she has sex with him. When he makes it clear he has no interest in marriage, she packs her bag and leaves Nancherrow. A year later, World War II is in progress and Judith is a
WREN Wrens are a family, Troglodytidae, of small brown passerine birds. The family includes 96 species and is divided into 19 genera. All species are restricted to the New World except for the Eurasian wren that is widely distributed in the Old Worl ...
. She meets Edward again and he proposes marriage but before she gives him an answer, Edward's plane is shot down. Blinded, he commits
suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...
rather than be a burden to others. When Loveday's fiancé Gus goes
missing in action Missing in action (MIA) is a casualty (person), casualty classification assigned to combatants, military chaplains, combat medics, and prisoner of war, prisoners of war who are reported missing during wartime or ceasefire. They may have been ...
she believes he is dead, and marries her farmer friend, Walter. On leave in London, Judith meets Jeremy Wells, a doctor who was a frequent visitor to Nancherrow. They make love that night, but Jeremy is posted overseas and they do not see each other for some time. He writes her a letter, declaring his love for her and asking if she will marry him after the war. When she does not reply, he assumes her answer is no—but in fact, the letter never arrived, having been lost in battle. As the war ends, Judith anxiously seeks news of her family, who were caught in the
Fall of Singapore The fall of Singapore, also known as the Battle of Singapore, took place in the South–East Asian theatre of the Pacific War. The Empire of Japan captured the British stronghold of Singapore, with fighting lasting from 8 to 15 February 1942. S ...
. She learns that her father died in Changi in 1942, and that her sister has been found in Australia. When Judith collects Jess from the authorities, she is mute. Seeking help for Jess, Judith meets Jeremy, who is working in his father's general practice. He advises patience. Soon after, Judith has a breakthrough and Jess is able to tell her that their mother drowned when their ship was torpedoed. Jeremy comes to check on Jess and in conversation with Judith, discovers that she never received the letter. He declares his love and she accepts him joyously.


Cast

*
Keira Knightley Keira Christina Knightley ( ; born 26 March 1985) is an English actress. Known for her work in independent films and Blockbuster (entertainment), blockbusters, particularly Historical drama, period dramas, she has received List of awards and no ...
(Part 1) /
Emily Mortimer Emily Kathleen Anne Mortimer (born 6 October 1971) is a British and American actress and filmmaker. She began acting in stage productions and has since appeared in several film and television roles. In 2003, she won an Independent Spirit Award ...
(Part 2) as Judith Dunbar *
Peter O'Toole Peter Seamus O'Toole (; 2 August 1932 – 14 December 2013) was an English actor known for his leading roles on stage and screen. His numerous accolades include the Academy Honorary Award, a BAFTA Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and four Golde ...
as Colonel Edgar Carey-Lewis *
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 Diana Carey-Lewis * Poppy Gaye as Young Loveday (Part 1) / Katie Ryder Richardson as Loveday Carey-Lewis (Part 2) *
Penelope Keith Dame Penelope Anne Constance Keith (''née'' Hatfield; born 2 April 1940) is an English actress and presenter, active in film, radio, stage and television and primarily known for her roles in the British sitcoms '' The Good Life'' and '' To the ...
as Aunt Louise *
David McCallum David Keith McCallum (19 September 1933 – 25 September 2023) was a Scottish actor and musician, based in the United States. He gained wide recognition in the 1960s for playing secret agent Illya Kuryakin in the television series '' The Man fr ...
as Billy Fawcett *
Paul Bettany Paul Bettany (born 27 May 1971) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as J.A.R.V.I.S. and Vision (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Vision in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including the Disney+ series ''WandaVision'' (2021), which garn ...
as Edward Carey-Lewis * George Asprey as Dr. Jeremy Wells * Heikko Deutschmann as Gus * Patrick Ryecart as Tommy Mortimer *
Susan Hampshire Susan Hampshire, Lady Kulukundis (born 12 May 1937), is an English actress. She is a three-time Emmy Award winner, winning for the television dramas, '' The Forsyte Saga'' in 1970, '' The First Churchills'' in 1971, and for '' Vanity Fair'' i ...
as Miss Catto * Brooke Kinsella as Jess


Production

The serial was shot at numerous locations in Cornwall, including
Godrevy Godrevy (, meaning ''small farms'') ( ) is an area on the eastern side of St Ives Bay, west Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, which faces the Atlantic Ocean. It is popular with both the surfing community and walkers. It is part owned by the ...
,
Lamorna Lamorna () is a village, valley and cove in west Cornwall, England, UK. It is on the Penwith peninsula approximately south of Penzance. Lamorna became popular with the artists of the Newlyn School, including Alfred Munnings, Laura Knight a ...
,
Lelant Lelant () or Uny Lelant is a village in the civil parish of St Ives in, west Cornwall, England, UK. It is on the west side of the Hayle Estuary, about southeast of St Ives and one mile (1.6 km) west of Hayle.Ordnance Survey: Landranger ...
,
Marazion Marazion (; ) is a Civil parishes in England, civil parish and town, on the shore of Mount's Bay in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is east of Penzance and the tidal island of St Michael's Mount is half-a-mile offshore. At tide, low wa ...
,
Penzance Penzance ( ; ) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is the westernmost major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated in the ...
,
Porthgwarra Porthgwarra () is a small coastal village in the civil parish of St Levan, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom situated between Land's End and Porthcurno. Access to the cove is via a minor road off the B3283 road at Polgigga and leads to t ...
,
Prideaux Place Prideaux Place is a Listed building, grade I listed Elizabethan architecture, Elizabethan country house in the parish of Padstow, Cornwall, England. It has been the home of the Prideaux family for over 400 years. The house was built in 1592 by ...
, and
St Michael's Mount St Michael's Mount (, meaning "Hoarfrost, hoar rock in woodland") is a tidal island in Mount's Bay near Penzance, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The island is a Civil parishes in England, civil parish and is linked to the town of Marazion ...
, as well as
Wrotham Park Wrotham Park (pronounced , ) is a neo-Palladian English country house in the parish of South Mimms, Hertfordshire. It lies south of the town of Potters Bar, from Hyde Park Corner in central London. The house was designed by Isaac Ware in 1754 ...
in
Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...
.


Home media

Acorn Media UK RLJE International Ltd, d/b/a Acorn Media, a British company that publishes and distributes DVDs, as well as selling home-video products and streaming videos with a particular focus on British television. History Launched in 1997, Acorn Media ...
released the serial in fullscreen format on DVD on 28 March 2000. It includes excerpts from a documentary about Rosamunde Pilcher.


External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0158653, title=Coming Home 1998 British television series debuts 1998 British television series endings 1990s British drama television series 1990s British television miniseries Television shows based on British novels ITV television dramas Period television series Television series by ITV Studios Television series by Yorkshire Television World War II television series British English-language television shows Television shows set in England