''Lorna Doone'' is a 1963 British TV adaptation of the 1869 romance novel ''

Lorna Doone ''Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor'' is a novel by English author Richard Doddridge Blackmore, published in 1869. It is a romance based on a group of historical characters and set in the late 17th century in Devon and Somerset, particularly ar ...

'' by

R. D. Blackmore Richard Doddridge Blackmore (7 June 1825 – 20 January 1900), known as R. D. Blackmore, was one of the most famous English novelists of the second half of the nineteenth century. He won acclaim for vivid descriptions and personification of the ...

. It aired on the BBC and ran for 11 episodes of 30 minutes each. It starred

Bill Travers William Inglis Lindon Travers (3 January 1922 – 29 March 1994) was a British actor, screenwriter, director and animal rights activist. Prior to his show business career, he served in the British army with Gurkha and special forces units. E ...

and

Jane Merrow Jane Josephine Meirowsky (born 26 August 1941), known professionally as Jane Merrow is a British actress who has been active from the 1960s in both Britain and the United States. Early years Merrow was born in Hertfordshire to an English mothe ...

Cast

as John Ridd *

Jean Anderson Jean Anderson (12 December 1907 – 1 April 2001) was an English actress best remembered for her television roles as hard-faced matriarch Mary Hammond in the BBC drama '' The Brothers'' (1972–1976) and as rebellious aristocrat Lady Jocelyn "J ...

as Mrs. Ridd *

Andrew Faulds Andrew Matthew William Faulds (1 March 1923 – 31 May 2000) was a British actor and Labour Party politician. After a successful acting career on stage, on radio and in films, he was a Member of Parliament from 1966 to 1997. Early life Fauld ...

as Carver Doone *Janet Pate as Lizzie Ridd *

Meg Wynn Owen Margaret Wright ( Shuttleworth, 8 November 1939 – June 2022), better known as Meg Wynn Owen, was a British actress known for her role as Hazel Bellamy in '' Upstairs, Downstairs''. She also appeared in ''Gosford Park'', ''Love Actually, Pride ...

as Annie Ridd *

Norman Tyrrell Norman Tyrrell (1897–1948) was a British sculptor. His work was part of the sculpture event in the art competition at the 1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London ...

as John Fry *

as Lorna Doone * John Bennett as Tom Faggus *Mark Burns as Charlesworth Doone * Nigel Stock as Jeremy Stickles *

Terence de Marney Terence Arthur De Marney (1 March 190825 May 1971) was a British film, stage, radio and television actor, as well as theatre director and writer. Career Actor The son of Violet Eileen Concanen and Arthur De Marney, and the grandson of no ...

as Counsellor Doone *

Daphne Heard Delia Phyllis Daphne Heard (21 August 1904 – 22 June 1983) was an English actress and acting teacher. She was born in Plymouth, Devon. She appeared in numerous made-for-TV movies and TV series. But was perhaps best known in latter years a ...

as Betty Muxworthy *Brian Hankins as Marwood de Whichelhalse *Patricia Brake as Gwenny Carfax

Production

In the early 1960s there were rival plans to film ''Lorna Doone'' for British TV by the BBC and British Granada. Granada claimed they registered their claim in 1961. Both approached Bill Travers to play the lead. As of 2021, this was one of only two serialised adaptations made by the BBC (it was remade in 1976 starring

Patrick Troughton Patrick George Troughton (; 25 March 1920 – 28 March 1987) was an English actor who was classically trained for the stage but became known for his roles in television and film. His work included appearances in several fantasy, science fiction ...

). However, all 11 episodes of this 1963 version were later

wiped Lost television broadcasts are mostly those early television programs which cannot be accounted for in studio archives (or in personal archives) usually because of deliberate destruction or neglect. Common reasons for loss A significant prop ...

by the corporation and are believed to be

lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

. A single photograph featured on the front cover of a Radio Times issue is all that exists.

References

External links

* 1963 British television series debuts 1963 British television series endings 1960s British drama television series BBC television dramas 1960s British romance television series 1960s British television miniseries Black-and-white British television shows Films based on Lorna Doone English-language television shows {{UK-tv-prog-stub