''Capturing Mary'' is a

BBC television drama BBC television dramas have been produced and broadcast since even before the public service company had an officially established television broadcasting network in the United Kingdom. As with any major broadcast network, drama forms an importa ...

(co-produced by HBO), written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff, starring Maggie Smith,

David Walliams David Edward Williams (born 20 August 1971), known professionally as David Walliams, is an English comedian, actor, writer, and television personality. He is best known for his work with Matt Lucas on the BBC sketch comedy series ''Little Br ...

Ruth Wilson Ruth Wilson (born 13 January 1982) is an English actress. She is known for her performances as the eponymous protagonist in ''Jane Eyre'' (2006), as Alice Morgan in the BBC psychological crime drama ''Luther'' (2010–2013, 2019), as Alison L ...

and

Danny Lee Wynter Danny Wynter (born 25 May 1982), known professionally as Danny Lee Wynter, is a British actor, playwright, and activist. He is best known for playing the lead in Stephen Poliakoff's BBC films Joe's Palace and Capturing Mary, alongside Sir Mic ...

. It was aired on BBC Two on 12 November 2007. It is linked, by the central character of Joe, to another Poliakoff drama, '' Joe's Palace'', which was first aired on 4 November 2007.

Overview

The drama saw a repeat of

's caretaker character of Joe, who encounters former socialite Mary (played by Maggie Smith in the present and

in her youth) when she visits the house featured in '' Joe's Palace''. We see flashbacks to her past links with the house. This present-day meeting between Joe and Mary overlaps with the events of '' Joe's Palace''.

Plot

We first meet the character of Mary as an old woman (Maggie Smith) in the present. The "old" Mary, a former journalist and socialite, arrives at the house of Elliot Graham's late father. Joe (Danny Lee Wynter), the caretaker of the house, takes pity on her and invites her in. She begins to recount to Joe the significance of the house to her. Moving from room to room, she tells Joe of the 1950s high society soirees she was invited to in the house. She recalls how Mr Graham's soirees were attended by the great and the good – the aristocracy, the nouveaux riche, industrialists, newspaper barons, editors, actors and directors. She tells Joe that she has been haunted by the memory of a sinister man named Greville White (David Walliams) whom she met one evening in the house. Greville White turns out to be a social climber whose influence reached into high society. Mary recalls that he was supremely charming but utterly evil. We see Greville and the "young" Mary (Ruth Wilson) in Mr Graham's cellar selecting fine wines for a salad that he has prepared. In the cellar, Greville tells Mary of dark secrets involving members of the British Establishment who are enjoying Mr Graham's soiree in the rooms above them. The secrets involve child abuse, sexual perversion, anti-semitism and racism amongst the great and the good. He feigns friendship with Mary but she rejects him because of his malevolence. Greville retaliates by using his influence over the newspaper proprietors to deny her work in Britain. The audience encounters subsequent meetings between the two in the 1950s and 1960s at Mr Graham's soirees and other social events. We see the sinister destruction of Mary's life as she becomes preoccupied by Greville's influence on her and her slide into despair and alcoholism. The end of the drama sees Greville re-appear in Kensington Gardens in the present. Mary is now an old woman but the sinister Greville has not aged since they first met in the 1950s.

Cast

* Maggie Smith as Mary Gilbert *

as Greville White *

as Young Mary *

as Joe *

Gemma Arterton Gemma Christina Arterton (born 2 February 1986) is an English actress and producer. After her stage debut in Shakespeare's ''Love's Labour's Lost'' at the Globe Theatre (2007), Arterton made her feature film debut in the comedy '' St Trinian's'' ...

as Liza * Michael Byers as Zach

Production

Casting

The programme also starred

as the character Greville White.

, still in drama school at the time, played her first professional acting role as Greville White's young date, Liza.

References

External links

*
''Capturing Mary''
at the BBC website. *

{{Stephen Poliakoff BBC Film films 2007 British television series debuts BBC television dramas