''Miss Marie Lloyd: Queen of The Music Hall'' is a British television drama directed by

James Hawes James Hawes is a British television director. He has worked in British television drama since the mid-1990s, and has also produced documentaries for British and American television networks. His work has ranged across high-end period pieces and ...

and produced by

Hat Trick Productions Hat Trick Productions is an independent British production company that produces television and radio programmes, mainly specialising in comedy, based in London. History Hat Trick Productions was founded in 1986 by Rory McGrath, Jimmy Mulville ...

. It was first shown on

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

in 2007. The film traces the turbulent and unconventional life of

Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...

star

Marie Lloyd Matilda Alice Victoria Wood (12 February 1870 – 7 October 1922), professionally known as Marie Lloyd (), was an English music hall singer, comedian and musical theatre actress. She was best known for her performances of songs such as " T ...

, portrayed by

Jessie Wallace Karen Jane Wallace (born 25 September 1971), known professionally as Jessie Wallace, is an English actress. She is known for portraying the role of Kat Slater on the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' since 2000. Her role as Kat won her the Nationa ...

. The drama formed part of BBC Four's ''Edwardians – The Birth of Now'' season.

Cast

* Richard Armitage as Percy Courtenay * Matthew Marsh as

Alec Hurley Alexander Hurley (24 March 1871 – 6 December 1913) was an English music hall singer, and Marie Lloyd's second husband. Born in London, Hurley began a boxing career, during which he would perform a song entitled "The Strongest Man on Earth" aft ...

* Tom Payne as

Bernard Dillon Bernard Dillon (1888–1941) was an Irish jockey. Born at Caherina in Tralee, he joined his older brother Joe in 1901, both of them being apprentice jockeys at the famous Druids Lodge training establishment in Wiltshire England. Victory on ...

* Lee Williams as Freddie *

Shaun Parkes Shaun Parkes (born 9 February 1973) is an English actor. Biography At 16, Parkes enrolled at Seltec College to study drama. Two years later, he was accepted into RADA. Having acted in both theatre and television support roles, Parkes made his ...

as 'The Showman' * Angus Barnett as Mr Belafonte *

Amanda Root Amanda Root (born 1963) is an English stage and screen actress and a former voice actress for children's programmes. Root is known for her starring role in the 1995 BBC film adaptation of Jane Austen's ''Persuasion'', her role in the British ...

as Mrs Chant *

Annette Badland Annette Badland (born 26 August 1950) is an English actress known for a wide range of roles on television, radio, stage, and film. She is best known for her roles as Margaret Blaine in the BBC science fiction series ''Doctor Who'', Mrs. Glen ...

as Nelly Powers * Sue Elliot-Nicholls as Bridey

Reception

In her article ahead of the broadcast, Sarah Dempster for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' said that: "Wallace's performance is as bracing as a power walk down Lambeth High Street". The reviewer for ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...

'' commented that the script was "awful", with it making "a pig's ear of what was obviously an interesting life". The review concluded with a reference to Wallace's character in ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...

'', stating that Wallace: "was perfectly fine in the role, giving it as much of the old atSlater oomph as she could, but she'll have to find much better things than this if she wants to escape typecasting."

Awards

Lucinda Wright was nominated in the costume design category for the

British Academy Television Craft Awards The British Academy Television Craft Awards is an accolade presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), a charitable organisation established in 1947, which: "supports, promotes and develops the art forms of the moving imag ...

for 2008.

DVD

This production is available on DVD, distributed by

Acorn Media UK RLJE International Ltd, d/b/a Acorn DVD, a British company that publishes and distributes DVDs, as well as selling home-video products and streaming videos with a particular focus on British television. History Launched in 1997, Acorn Media U. ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Miss Marie Lloyd: Queen of The Music Hall BBC television dramas 2007 British television series debuts 2007 British television series endings Television series by Hat Trick Productions