''Florence Nightingale'' was a 60-minute 2008

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, ...

television drama on the early years of

Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War, i ...

, from 1837 to the Royal Commission into the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

. Nightingale was played by

Laura Fraser Laura Fraser (born 24 July 1975) is a Scottish actress. She has played Door in the urban fantasy series ''Neverwhere'', Kate in the film '' A Knight's Tale'', Cat MacKenzie in the BBC Three drama series ''Lip Service'' and Lydia Rodarte-Quay ...

, and her father by

Michael Pennington Michael Vivian Fyfe Pennington (born 7 June 1943) is a British actor, director and writer. Together with director Michael Bogdanov, he founded the English Shakespeare Company in 1986 and was its Joint Artistic Director until 1992. He has writ ...

. It was first broadcast on Sunday 1 June 2008.

Cast

as Wen, Florence's father *Derek Hicks as Surviving Soldier *Zoe Street Howe as Queen Victoria *Andrew Harrison as

Lord Palmerston Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, (20 October 1784 – 18 October 1865) was a British statesman who was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century. Palmerston dominated British foreign policy during the period ...

Lorraine Cheshire Lorraine Cheshire (born 15 August 1958) is an English actress, known for her roles as Sue Benson in the Sky sitcom '' Trollied'', Fleur Budgen in the BBC One school-based drama '' Waterloo Road'' and Lorraine Bird in the Channel 4 school-based ...

as Watson, Nightingale maid * Roy Hudd as Music Hall Barker *Daryl Fishwick as Music Hall Florence *Ben Stott as Music Hall Singer *Sam Maurice, Paul Moorcroft, Richard Kelly, Harriet Web, and Kate Joseph as Music Hall Performers *Robert Aram as Doctor *

Barbara Marten Barbara Marten (born 3 January 1947) is a British actress. She is most known for playing Eve Montgomery in ''Casualty''. She has appeared in various soaps, including Eastenders and Brookside, as well as many other drama serials such as ''Harry' ...

as Fanny, Florence's mother *

Catherine Tyldesley Catherine Tyldesley (born 17 September 1983) is an English actress, comedian and model known for her roles as Iris Moss in the BBC drama ''Lilies'', Eva Price on the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' from 2011 to 2018 and Karen Norris in ...

as Parthenope, Florence's elder sister *

Ian Bartholomew Ian Bartholomew (born 23 August 1954) is a British actor and musician from Portsmouth, England who has worked widely in both theatre and television. In March 2018, Bartholomew joined the cast of ITV soap opera, ''Coronation Street'', as Geoff ...

as Sidney Herbert *

Keith Clifford Keith Clifford (born 20 June 1938 in Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire) is a British actor best known for his role as Billy Hardcastle in ''Last of the Summer Wine'' between 1999 and 2006. Career He played Billy Hardcastle on the British si ...

as the colonel *

Paul Opacic Paul Opacic (born 1966) is a British actor from Halifax, England. Best known for his roles as Carl Costello in ''Hollyoaks'', Steve Marchant in ''Emmerdale'' and Mark Waddle in '' Bad Girls''. In 2021, he joined the cast of the ITV soap ope ...

Richard Monckton Milnes Richard Monckton Milnes, 1st Baron Houghton, FRS (19 June 1809 – 11 August 1885) was an English poet, patron of literature and a politician who strongly supported social justice. Background and education Milnes was born in London, the son of ...

*Chris Kerry, Cheryl Willday, Violet Foode, Wendy Patterson, and

Debbie Rush Debbie Rush (born 29 March 1966) is an English actress, known for portraying the role of Anna Windass in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' from 2008 to 2018. Career Early career After training at the Manchester School of Acting when she ...

as Nurse interviewees *Olwen May as Mother Mary Clare *

John Axon John Axon GC (4 December 1900 – 9 February 1957) was an English train driver from Stockport (Edgeley Depot) who died while trying to stop a runaway freight train on a 1 in 58 gradient at Chapel-en-le-Frith in Derbyshire after a brake fail ...

as Orderly *Jon Croft as Sir

John Hall John Hall may refer to: Academics * John Hall (NYU President) (fl. c. 1890), American academic * John A. Hall (born 1949), sociology professor at McGill University, Montreal * John F. Hall (born 1951), professor of classics at Brigham Young Unive ...

*Tim Beasley as Fitzgerald *Sam McKenzie as Dr Farr

Crew

*Writer and director -

Norman Stone Norman Stone (8 March 1941 – 19 June 2019) was a British historian and author. He was Professor of European History in the Department of International Relations at Bilkent University, having formerly been a professor at the University of Oxf ...

*Producer - Roger Childs *Consulting Producer - Kenneth Cavander *Director of Photography - Michael Fox *Editor - Colin Goudie *Music -

Jeremy Soule Jeremy Soule (; born December 19, 1975) is an American composer of soundtracks for film, television, and video games. He has composed soundtracks for over 60 games and over a dozen other works during his career, including ''The Elder Scrolls'', ' ...

Filming locations

Lea hurst Dethick, Lea and Holloway is a civil parish (and, since 1899, an ecclesiastical parish), in the Amber Valley borough of the English county of Derbyshire. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 1,027. It is located in c ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

*Butterley Station, Ripley *St John the Baptist Church,

Tideswell Tideswell is a village and civil parish in the Peak District of Derbyshire, England. It lies east of Buxton on the B6049, in a wide valley on a limestone plateau, at an altitude of above sea level, and is within the District of Derbyshire Da ...

* Manchester Town Hall *Croxteth Hall, St George's Hall, High Park Reservoir -

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

External links

* 2008 films 2008 television films 2000s biographical films British biographical films British television films Crimean War films Films scored by Jeremy Soule Films about Florence Nightingale Films set in the 19th century Films shot in Derbyshire Films shot in Greater Manchester Films shot in Merseyside Cultural depictions of Queen Victoria Cultural depictions of Florence Nightingale 2000s British films {{UK-tv-film-stub