Strumpet City (miniseries)

Strumpet City
GenreHistorical fiction
Directed byTony Barry
StarringFrank Grimes
David Kelly
Angela Harding
Bryan Murray
Cyril Cusack
Donal McCann
Ruth Hegarty
Peter O'Toole
Denys Hawthorne
Eileen Murphy
Country of originIreland
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes7
Production
ProducersTony Barry
John Kelleher
CinematographyKen Murphy
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time50 mins. per episode
Production companyRTÉ
Original release
NetworkRTÉ One
Release16 March (16 March 1980) –
27 April 1980 (27 April 1980)

Strumpet City was a 1980 television miniseries produced by Irish broadcaster RTÉ, based on James Plunkett's 1969 novel Strumpet City.[1][2][3]

It was RTÉ's most ambitious and expensive production to date. The script was written by Hugh Leonard, and Peter O'Toole played James Larkin, the union leader.[4] The cast also included Cyril Cusack as the alcoholic priest, Father Giffley, Donal McCann as the Larkin supporter, Mulhall, David Kelly as the destitute "Rashers" Tierney and Bryan Murray as Fitz, the young unemployed worker who ends up in the trenches. Frank Grimes won a Jacob's Award for his portrayal of the young Catholic curate, Father O'Connor. Peter Ustinov made a cameo appearance in the first episode as Edward VII.

First shown in Ireland in 1980, the series was exported to the United Kingdom, where it was shown on all regions of ITV bar Southern in late 1981, and on Southern's successor company TVS in 1982. It was then repeated by Scottish Television in 1983 and on Channel 4 and S4C in 1984.[5]

In 2004, a digitised and remastered version was released on DVD by Acorn Media UK.[6]

On RTE Player to celebrate 60 Years Of Television Christmas 2021.

References

  1. ^ "Strumpet City". RTÉ Archives.
  2. ^ Thomas, Cónal. "'A whole history to capture': Dublin's Tenement Museum wants your memories of tenement life". TheJournal.ie.
  3. ^ Sanger, Erika (12 March 2019). "10 Famous Quotes By Irish Legends About Drinking & Irish Pubs". Ireland Before You Die.
  4. ^ McLoone, Martin (8 September 2008). Film, Media and Popular Culture in Ireland: Cityscapes, Landscapes, Soundscapes. Irish Academic Press. ISBN 9780716529361 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ The Times Digital Archive
  6. ^ "RTE in bid to get 'Strumpet City' back on screens". Independent.ie.