Lost Empires depicts the coming of age of a tongue-tied Yorkshire lad when he falls among actors. His education is complete when he marches off to the trenches of World War I.
"In 1913 young Richard Herncastle joins his Uncle Nick's magic act and is introduced to the enchanted world of the British music hall. Traveling from one city to the next, assisting at conjuring acts and disappearing acts, Richard comes to know romance, politics and high adventure. The next year, in a true and terrifying vanishing act, the guns of August blast away that world forever." From Lost Empires novel released in conjunction with original telecast.
(TV mini serie)
Alan Grint
Writing credits (in alphabetical order):
Ian Curteis - adaptation
J.B. Priestley - novel
Runtime: UK:60 min (7 episodes)
Country: UK
Language: English
Colin Firth on Richard Herncastle and Lost Empires:
"Herncastle was a tough nut to crack. Playing Hamlet was easier. With Hamlet there are all sorts of opportunities to be funny, exciting, dramatic. But Richard is the narrator, the observer. He's a bit like Alice in Wonderland. You can't make her exciting, either. You just have to give him as much shape and depth as you possibly can."Colin had thought about turning down the part because it meant a commitment for more than a year, but reading the novel changed his mind. "I couldn't put it down."
"The old stage-for-life analogy is the basis of the piece," says Colin Firth, the rising young star who plays the central character of Lost Empires. "The whole purpose of the theater is to play tricks on people's imaginations, but no one falls for the tricks as quickly as actors. An entirely sane person, if there is such a thing, wouldn't make a very good actor." Firth's character, Richard Herncastle, is an oasis of sanity among a neurotic assemblage of tumblers, comedians, chanteuses, dancers and necromancers who travel an endless circuit of Empire Theatres, one in every town in England. Firth plays an aspiring artist who hires on as an assistant to his uncle, an acid-tongued magician (John Castle).
*****
More than 150 hopefuls auditioned for the part but producer June Howson says: "I knew Colin was right as soon as he read it for me. He has a commanding quality"
With a cast including Laurence Olivier, Pamela Stephenson and Brian Glover, it's no wonder Colin felt more than a little trepidation when he was offered the part of Richard Herncastle: "It's an impressive line-up, so I had quite a turn when I read something about me heading the cast.""Herncastle was a tough nut to crack. Playing Hamlet was easier. With Hamlet there are all sorts of opportunities to be funny, exciting, dramatic. But Richard is the narrator, the observer. He's a bit like Alice in Wonderland. You can't make her exciting, either. You just have to give him as much shape and depth as you possibly can."
Colin had thought about turning down the part because it meant a commitment for more than a year, but reading the novel changed his mind. "I couldn't put it down." [Womans Own 1986]
Cast:
Colin Firth - Richard Herncastle
John Castle - Nick Ollanton
Carmen du Sautoy - Julie Blane
Beatie Edney - Nancy Ellis
Pamela Stephenson - Lily Farris
Gillian Bevan - Cissie Mapes
Laurence Olivier - Harry Burrard
Richard Alexander - Burrington Empire Callboy
Jane Arden - Susie Hodson
Rod Arthur - Recruiting Sergeant
Rex Arundel - Newcastle Empire M.D.
Al Ashton - Policeman
John Asquith - Edmund
John Ballanger - Andre Colmar
Roy Barraclough - Alfred Bentwood
Peter Barton - George Wall
Neil Boorman - Ben Hayes
Colin Bower - Vicar
Sharon Bower - Julie's Replacement
Stephen Brigden - Bob Hodson
Jim Carter - Inspector Crabbe
James Cosmo - Inspector Furness
Hugh Cross - Mr. Foster Jones
Alfie Curtis - Ted
Tim Dantay - Spider Evans
Carrie Davies - Peggy Canford
Drew Dawson - Norman Hislop
Circus de Reszke - Dunffields Dogs
Jane Eaglen - Lottie Dean
James Eastham - The musical tiplows
Mike Edmonds - Barney
Rio Fortune -The ragtime three
Weston Gavin - Bill Jennings
Brian Glover -Tommy Beamish
Daphne Goddard - Violet
Andrea Gordon - Phyllis Robinson
Rachel Gurney - Mrs. Agnes Foster Jones
Patricia Heneghan - Varvara Wall
Arthur Hewlett - Mr. Pitter
Madge Hindle - Mrs. Shurer
Joe Holmes - Vicar
Lila Kaye - Rose Bentwood
Ken Kitson - Inspector Woods
Brenda Larenty - The Montanas
Beti Lloyd-Jones - Lady Speaker
Alfred Marks - Otto Mergen
Francesca McGregor - Nonie Colmar
Patrick McGuigan - Liverpool Empire M.D.
Walter McMonagle - Archie Tingley
Big Mick - Phillip Tewby
Miguel - The Montanas
Bruce Morrison - Ambrose
Ted Morris - Sam Hayes
Mike Mosebury - The ragtime three
Kenneth Nelson - Hank Johnson
Anthony Newlands - Hubert Courtenay
Julia Parrott - Vesta Tilley
Charlotte Plowright - Masie Dawe
Patricia Quinn - Doris Tingley
Maria Rayner - The musical tiplows
Ralph Riach - Edinburgh Empire M.D.
Christopher Rozycki - Max Shurer
Jean Marie Segal - Gustav Colmar
Jeffrey Segal - Bosanby
Larbi Slemane - Jean Colmar
Matthew Solon - Alfred Dunsop
Margo Stanley - Lady Chernock
Cyril Varley - Dixon
Jane Venables - The musical tiplows
Wanda Ventham - Mrs. Muriel Dirks
Claude Walloon - The ragtime three
Joseph Ward - The irish tenor
Emil Wolk - Ricarlo
