''Friends and Crocodiles'' is a one-off
British television drama production, written and directed by
Stephen Poliakoff and first broadcast on
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
on 15 January 2006.
Overview
The film charts the shifting power between a boss and his secretary as their careers rise and fall
in the rapidly changing workplace of 1980s and 1990s Britain. ''Friends and Crocodiles'' stars
Damian Lewis
Damian Watcyn Lewis (born 11 February 1971) is an English actor, presenter and producer. He is best known for portraying U.S. Army Major Richard Winters in the HBO miniseries '' Band of Brothers'', which earned him a Golden Globe nomination ...
,
Jodhi May
Jodhi Tania May (''née'' Hakim-Edwards; 8 May 1975) is a British actress. She remains the youngest recipient of the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival, for ''A World Apart'' (1988). Her other film appearances include ''The Last ...
and
Robert Lindsay with an ensemble cast that includes
Patrick Malahide
Patrick Gerald Duggan (born 24 March 1945), known professionally as Patrick Malahide, is a veteran British film, television and theatre actor, author and producer, known, amongst other things, for his roles as Inspector Alleyn in '' The Inspec ...
and
Eddie Marsan
Edward Maurice Charles Marsan (born 9 June 1968) is an English actor. He won the London Film Critics Circle Award and the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film '' Happy-Go-Lucky'' (2008).
He has feature ...
.
Damian Lewis plays Paul, a ''
Gatsby''-like figure and inspirational entrepreneur. He is a host of fabulous parties, a "collector" of interesting people, a visionary with dreams of new urban landscapes, and keeper of a pet crocodile. Jodhi May plays Lizzie, who is persuaded by Paul to become his secretary and bring some order to his creative chaos. Once at Paul's magnificent house, Lizzie's world expands as she meets artists, historians and politicians.
The drama was loosely linked to a second Poliakoff piece, ''
Gideon's Daughter
''Gideon's Daughter'' is the second of two linked BBC television dramas written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff.
Produced independently for the BBC by Talkback Thames and starring Bill Nighy, Miranda Richardson, and Emily Blunt, it aired i ...
'', broadcast the following month. Although the links were more thematic than narrative, the character of Sneath (Lindsay) reappeared in ''Gideon's Daughter'', acting as the narrator.
Cast
Trivia
The location of the final scene around the fire is Weavers Fields in
Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green is an area in the East End of London northeast of Charing Cross. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the Green, much of which survives today as Bethnal Green Gardens, beside Cambridge Heath Road. By ...
.
References
External links
''Friends and Crocodiles''at
bbc.co.uk.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Friends And Crocodiles
BBC television dramas
Films directed by Stephen Poliakoff
2006 television films
2006 films
2000s business films