''Have Your Cake and Eat It'' is a British romantic drama

mini-series A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

which was broadcast every Saturday and Sunday on

BBC1 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, ...

from 15 to 23 March 1997. The four-episode series was directed by Paul Seed and co-produced by Dave Edwards and Eileen Quinn. The show starred Miles Anderson as Sam Dawson, a middle-aged executive in the roller coaster industry. The plot follows Sam Dawson's affair with a younger woman, Allie Grey (

Holly Aird Imogen Holly Aird (born 18 May 1969) is an English television actress known for playing forensic pathologist Frankie Wharton in the BBC1 drama series '' Waking the Dead'', having previously starred in productions such as ''Soldier Soldier'' a ...

), and the impact on his marriage with Charlotte Dawson (

Sinéad Cusack Sinéad Moira Cusack ( ) is an Irish actress. Her first acting roles were at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, before moving to London in 1969 to join the Royal Shakespeare Company. She has won the Critics' Circle and ''Evening Standard'' Awards f ...

). The series simultaneously followed the affair and Sam’s professional pursuit of building a roller coaster called "

Dragon Khan Dragon Khan is a steel sit-down roller coaster located in the PortAventura Park theme park in Salou and Vilaseca (Tarragona), Catalonia, Spain. Dragon Khan boasts eight inversions, which was a world record until the opening of the ten-inversion ...

." The series co-starred Paul Brooke, David de Keyser, Ian McNeice, and James Purefoy. It was conceived by actor and television writer

Rob Heyland Rob Heyland (born 2 April 1954) is an Anglo-Irish screenwriter, actor and landscape designer. Early life and education Heyland was born in London to Irish parents and brought up in Kent where his father was a GP. He was educated at The King’s ...

, writer of ''Between the Lines'' and ''Wycliffe''.

Cast

– Charlotte Dawson * Miles Anderson – Sam Dawson *

– Allie Gray * Paul Brooke – Stimpson * David de Keyser – Michael * Ian McNeice – Zief * James Purefoy – Ben * Guy Faulkner – Stephen Dawson * Honeysuckle Weeks – Sophie Dawson * Jay Barrymore – Max Dawson * Holly Oppe – Polly Dawson * Imogen Oppe – Molly Dawson *

Sally Dexter Sally Julia Dexter is an English actress of stage and screen. She won the 1987 Olivier Award for Most Promising Newcomer for ''Dalliance''. Her other West End stage credits include the musicals ''Oliver!'' (1994), ''Sister Act'' (2010) and '' ...

– Diane *

James Bolam James Christopher Bolam (born 16 June 1935) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Terry Collier in ''The Likely Lads'' and its sequel ''Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?'', Jack Ford in ''When the Boat Comes In'', Roy Fig ...

– Nat Oliver * Rebecca Front – Claire Gray * Kate Blackham – Doreen *

Philip Glenister Philip Haywood Glenister (born 10 February 1963) is an English actor. He is best known for his role as DCI Gene Hunt in the BBC series ''Life on Mars'' (2006–2007) and its sequel '' Ashes to Ashes'' (2008–2010). He also played DCI William ...

– Joe Martin * Paul Mateu – Carlos *

Wolf Kahler Wolf Kahler (born 3 April 1940) is a German stage, film, television, and voice actor. Since 1975, he appeared in many English language US and UK television and film productions. One of his early roles was Kaiser Wilhelm II in Michael York's ...

– Gunther * Toby Harper – Jose Maria

Episodes

Awards

Sinead Cusack won the

Royal Television Society Award The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

for Best Actress in 1998, while

Miranda Richardson Miranda Jane Richardson (born 3 March 1958) is an English actress. She made her film debut playing Ruth Ellis in '' Dance with a Stranger'' (1985) and went on to receive Academy Award nominations for ''Damage'' (1992) and ''Tom & Viv'' (1994). ...

also received a nomination in the same category.RTS Awards Archive
(March), p. 19 (accessed 3 November 2018).

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0118334, title=Have Your Cake and Eat It 1997 British television series debuts 1997 British television series endings 1990s British drama television series 1990s British romance television series 1990s British television miniseries BBC television dramas Television series by Banijay British English-language television shows Television shows set in Surrey Television shows set in Spain