A Tale of Two Cities (1980 TV series)

For the other television adaptation of the same year, see A Tale of Two Cities (1980 film).

A Tale of Two Cities
GenreHistorical drama
Based onA Tale of Two Cities
by Charles Dickens
Written byPeter Harding
Directed byMichael E. Briant
StarringPaul Shelley
Sally Osborne
Nigel Stock
ComposerPaul Reade
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes8
Production
ProducerBarry Letts
CinematographyElmer Cossey
Running time30 minutes
Production companyBBC
Original release
NetworkBBC One
Release5 October (1980-10-05)[1] –
23 November 1980 (1980-11-23)[1]

A Tale of Two Cities is a British television series which first aired on BBC 1 in 1980. It is an adaptation of the novel A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.[2] Paul Shelley plays the duel roles of Sydney Carton and Charles Darnay, the first actor to do so since William Farnum in the 1917 silent adaptation.[3] Two weeks later, an American production was released featuring Chris Sarandon in the same duel roles.[4]

It is the only BBC adaptation known to exist entirely.[citation needed]

Plot summary

Cast

References

  1. ^ a b Pointer 1996, p. 181.
  2. ^ Baskin 1996, p. 175.
  3. ^ Farina 2022, pp. 134–135.
  4. ^ Farina 2022, pp. 135.

Bibliography

  • Baskin, Ellen (1996). Serials on British Television, 1950-1994. Scolar Press. ISBN 9781859280157.
  • Farina, William (2022). Screening Charles Dickens. McFarland & Company. ISBN 9781476647869.
  • Pointer, Michael (1996). Charles Dickens on the Screen. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810829602.