''North & South'' is a British
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
historical drama
A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romance film, romances, adventure f ...
programme, produced by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
and originally broadcast in four episodes 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, p ...
in November and December 2004. It follows the story of
Margaret Hale
Margaret Hale is the heroine of Elizabeth Gaskell's 1855 novel ''North and South''. Initially, Gaskell wanted the title of the novel to be ''Margaret Hale'', but Charles Dickens, the editor of '' Household Words'', the magazine in which the novel ...
(
Daniela Denby-Ashe
Daniela Jolanta Denby-Ashe (born 9 August 1978) is an English actress. She is best known for playing Sarah Hills on the soap opera ''EastEnders'', Margaret Hale on the period drama ''North and South'', and Janey Harper on the BBC sitcom ''My F ...
), a young woman from
southern England
Southern England, or the South of England, also known as the South, is an area of England consisting of its southernmost part, with cultural, economic and political differences from the Midlands and the North. Officially, the area includes G ...
who has to move to
the North after her father decides to leave the clergy. The family struggles to adjust itself to the industrial town's customs, especially after meeting the Thorntons, a proud family of
cotton mill
A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning (textiles), spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system.
Althou ...
owners who seem to despise their social inferiors. The story explores the issues of class and gender, as Margaret's sympathy for the town mill workers clashes with her growing attraction to John Thornton (
Richard Armitage).
The serial is based on the 1855
Victorian novel ''
North and South North and South may refer to:
Literature
* ''North and South'' (Gaskell novel), an 1854 novel by Elizabeth Gaskell
* ''North and South'' (trilogy), a series of novels by John Jakes (1982–1987)
** ''North and South'' (Jakes novel), first novel ...
'' by
Elizabeth Gaskell
Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell (''née'' Stevenson; 29 September 1810 – 12 November 1865), often referred to as Mrs Gaskell, was an English novelist, biographer and short story writer. Her novels offer a detailed portrait of the lives of many st ...
and takes place in the years surrounding the
Great Exhibition of 1851
The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition which took pl ...
. It was adapted for television by
Sandy Welch
Sandra Elizabeth "Sandy" Welch (born 6 December 1953 in Chester, Cheshire) is a British television writer and screenwriter.
Welch is a graduate of the National Film and Television School.
As a screenwriter, Welch has developed many serials fo ...
and directed by
Brian Percival
Brian Percival is a British film director, known for his work on the British television series ''Downton Abbey'' and '' North & South'', as well as the feature film ''The Book Thief''.
Biography
He was born in Liverpool, England, in 1962 and a ...
.
Plot
Margaret Hale
Margaret Hale is the heroine of Elizabeth Gaskell's 1855 novel ''North and South''. Initially, Gaskell wanted the title of the novel to be ''Margaret Hale'', but Charles Dickens, the editor of '' Household Words'', the magazine in which the novel ...
(
Daniela Denby-Ashe
Daniela Jolanta Denby-Ashe (born 9 August 1978) is an English actress. She is best known for playing Sarah Hills on the soap opera ''EastEnders'', Margaret Hale on the period drama ''North and South'', and Janey Harper on the BBC sitcom ''My F ...
) and her parents Maria (
Lesley Manville
Lesley Ann Manville (born 12 March 1956) is an English actress known for her frequent collaborations with Mike Leigh, appearing in the films ''Grown-Ups'' (1980), '' High Hopes'' (1988), '' Secrets & Lies'' (1996), ''Topsy-Turvy'' (1999), '' A ...
) and Richard (
Tim Pigott-Smith
Timothy Peter Pigott-Smith, (13 May 1946 – 7 April 2017) was an English film and television actor and author. He was best known for his leading role as Ronald Merrick in the television drama series '' The Jewel in the Crown'', for which he wo ...
) live in the idyllic town in Helstone in Hampshire. At the wedding of her cousin, Edith, Margaret is approached by Edith's new brother-in-law, Henry Lennox (
John Light). Lennox visits Helstone a while later and proposes marriage to Margaret; she refuses him.
Margaret's father, a clergyman, has long harbored doubts about the doctrines of the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
and resigns his position rather than attest to orthodox beliefs as his bishop requires. To avoid gossip, the family move to the (fictional) industrial town of Milton, Darkshire, in the
north of England
Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...
. Thanks to his friend, Mr. Bell (
Brian Protheroe
Brian Protheroe (born 16 June 1944) is an English musician, actor and narrator. He is best known for his first single, "Pinball", which was released in August 1974, and entered the UK Singles Chart at number 40 and reached a peak of number 22. ...
), Mr. Hale is able to find a house. Giving lessons as a private tutor provides him a modest income. One of his pupils is local mill-owner John Thornton (
Richard Armitage), who gets off to a bad start with Margaret when she witnesses him beating a worker whom he has caught smoking in the mill, which endangers all the workers. Gradually, Margaret gets used to Thornton, but his mother Hannah (
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 ...
) and sister Fanny (
Jo Joyner
Joanne Mary Joyner (born 24 May 1977) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Tanya Branning in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' and Mandy Carter in Channel 4 drama ''Ackley Bridge''. Since 2018, she has starred as Luella Shakesp ...
) disapprove of her, believing her haughty and alien to the customs of the North. In the meantime, Margaret attempts to do charitable work among the mill workers and comes into contact with Nicholas Higgins (
Brendan Coyle
David "Brendan" Coyle (born 2 December 1962) is an English-Irish actor. He won the Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for ''The Weir'' in 1999. He also played Nicholas Higgins in the miniseries '' North & South'', Robert T ...
) and his daughter, Bessy (
Anna Maxwell Martin
Anna Maxwell Martin (born Anna Charlotte Martin; 27 May 1977),Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1984–2006 listed birth name as ''Anna Charlotte Martin''; Registration year 1977; Registration District Beverley, Yorkshire som ...
), who suffers from
byssinosis
Byssinosis is an occupational lung disease caused by inhalation of cotton or jute dust in inadequately ventilated working environments and can develop over time with repeated exposure. Byssinosis commonly occurs in textile workers who are employed ...
from exposure to the cotton fibres in the mills. When Bessy became ill at Hamper's Mill, her father moved her to Marlborough Mills, Thornton's mill, because the working environment is better there. In a meeting with fellow mill owners, Thornton says he had a wheel for ventilation installed in all of the rooms of his factory in order to maintain a healthier workforce, despite the fact that it costs a great deal of money. The other industrialists had refused to install a wheel because of the expense.
Margaret's mother is falling ill. Mrs. Hale desires to see her son, Frederick (
Rupert Evans
Rupert Evans (born 9 March 1977) is a British actor. He is a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and starred in the Amazon series '' The Man in the High Castle'' and also in the CW's '' Charmed'' series. In 2021 Evans appeared in '' Bridge ...
), before she dies. Frederick, a naval officer, was involved in a mutiny and he cannot return to England without risking his life. However, without telling her father, Margaret writes to her brother in
Cádiz
Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia.
Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...
, Spain, to tell him that their mother is dying. Margaret calls on the Thorntons to borrow a water mattress for her mother and is trapped there while the mill workers riot during a strike. When the angry mob threatens John's safety as he confronts them after Margaret's goading, Margaret defends him from the rioters and is injured by a thrown stone.
Margaret recovers and returns home, telling nobody about what had happened at the Mill, mainly to protect the health of her mother. When Thornton proposes to her the next day, she scorns him, thinking he believes himself superior because of the difference in their financial circumstances. He denies this and tells her that he is in love with her, but she insists that her actions were not personal.
Meanwhile, Bessy Higgins dies and Thornton stops coming for lessons from Mr. Hale. As a distraction for Mrs. Hale and for herself, Margaret visits
the Great Exhibition
The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition which took pl ...
with her Aunt Shaw (
Jane Booker
Jane P Booker (born 9 May 1956) is an English actress. She was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, and has over 40 television roles to her credit.
One of her first roles was in James Ivory's "Hullabaloo Over Georgie and Bonnie's Pictures" ...
), her cousin Edith and Edith's husband. Margaret meets Thornton at the exhibition, where he is discussing the machinery with a group of gentlemen, all of whom are listening with great respect and admiration for his simple good sense. Margaret is embarrassed to meet Thornton so soon after her rejection but defends him when Henry Lennox, who is also attending the exhibition, tries to belittle him for being in trade. As Margaret observes them together, Henry's sophistication and reliance on fashionable wit and sarcasm compares unfavourably with Thornton's honesty.
When Margaret returns home, her mother has taken a turn for the worse. Margaret's brother arrives just in time to see his mother, and she dies shortly after. While Frederick is in the house, Thornton comes to visit his friend Mr. Hale, but he cannot be allowed in, in case he sees Fred. Thornton interprets this as Margaret refusing to see him. The family's servant, Miss Dixon (
Pauline Quirke
Pauline Perpetua Sheen ( Quirke; born 8 July 1959) is an English actress who has played Sharon Theodopolopodous in the long-running comedy series '' Birds of a Feather'' (1988–1999, 2014–2017). For this role, she won the 1990 British Comed ...
), bumps into Leonards, a former member of Frederick's crew in Milton town, who offers to split the reward money for Frederick's capture with her. Dixon refuses, informing the Hales; it is decided that Frederick must leave at once, before he is discovered and arrested. He and Margaret are seen together at the railway station by Thornton, who mistakenly assumes that Frederick is Margaret's lover. Leonards spies on him and Margaret at the station, and in the brief scuffle Fred pushes him down the stairs. It is later revealed that he died in hospital. Margaret denies to the police that she was at the station, in order to protect Fred, but Thornton, who is the magistrate and saw her there, is morally tested, but ultimately calls off the impending inquiry for the sake of Margaret.
Thornton gives employment to Higgins who seeks work to care for Boucher's children after his death, and master and hand get along surprisingly well, despite their differences. They come up with a plan to feed the workers cheaply in a communal kitchen, and Thornton comes to a greater understanding with his workers as they share ideas. However, losses faced during the strike have put Thornton's business in trouble, and he is forced to close the mill.
Margaret's father visits Mr. Bell in Oxford, and dies there. With no family to keep her in Milton, Margaret leaves the north to stay with her aunt in London. After a few months living with the Shaws, Margaret visits Helstone with Mr. Bell, and meets the new vicar and his wife. Margaret is disappointed to find Helstone much changed, and realises that she has romanticised and idealised her childhood home, and starts to truly recognise the merits of life in Milton.
As Margaret's godfather, Mr. Bell makes over his significant fortune to her when he finds out that he has a terminal illness and chooses to move to Argentina for the better climate. Margaret hence becomes the owner of Marlborough Mills and John Thornton's landlord. Margaret visits Milton with Henry Lennox, who is now acting as her financial advisor; she speaks with Mrs. Thornton at Malborough Mills, expressing her realisation of Mr. Thornton's true character. Meanwhile, Thornton, having discovered the truth about Fred being Margaret's brother from Higgins, goes south to see Margaret's home town of Helstone. At a railway station halfway between Milton and Helstone, Margaret and Thornton cross paths on their respective return journeys. She proposes a business deal by which the factory can be reopened; after this the two share a kiss. Margaret bids farewell to Henry, and gets on the train "home" to Milton with Thornton.
Cast
*
Daniela Denby-Ashe
Daniela Jolanta Denby-Ashe (born 9 August 1978) is an English actress. She is best known for playing Sarah Hills on the soap opera ''EastEnders'', Margaret Hale on the period drama ''North and South'', and Janey Harper on the BBC sitcom ''My F ...
– Margaret Hale
*
Richard Armitage – John Thornton
*
Tim Pigott-Smith
Timothy Peter Pigott-Smith, (13 May 1946 – 7 April 2017) was an English film and television actor and author. He was best known for his leading role as Ronald Merrick in the television drama series '' The Jewel in the Crown'', for which he wo ...
– Mr Richard Hale
*
Lesley Manville
Lesley Ann Manville (born 12 March 1956) is an English actress known for her frequent collaborations with Mike Leigh, appearing in the films ''Grown-Ups'' (1980), '' High Hopes'' (1988), '' Secrets & Lies'' (1996), ''Topsy-Turvy'' (1999), '' A ...
– Mrs Maria Hale
*
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 ...
– Mrs Hannah Thornton
*
Jo Joyner
Joanne Mary Joyner (born 24 May 1977) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Tanya Branning in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' and Mandy Carter in Channel 4 drama ''Ackley Bridge''. Since 2018, she has starred as Luella Shakesp ...
– Fanny Thornton
*
Brendan Coyle
David "Brendan" Coyle (born 2 December 1962) is an English-Irish actor. He won the Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for ''The Weir'' in 1999. He also played Nicholas Higgins in the miniseries '' North & South'', Robert T ...
– Mr Nicholas Higgins
*
Anna Maxwell Martin
Anna Maxwell Martin (born Anna Charlotte Martin; 27 May 1977),Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1984–2006 listed birth name as ''Anna Charlotte Martin''; Registration year 1977; Registration District Beverley, Yorkshire som ...
– Bessy Higgins
* Kay Lyon – Mary Higgins
*
Pauline Quirke
Pauline Perpetua Sheen ( Quirke; born 8 July 1959) is an English actress who has played Sharon Theodopolopodous in the long-running comedy series '' Birds of a Feather'' (1988–1999, 2014–2017). For this role, she won the 1990 British Comed ...
– Dixon
*
Rupert Evans
Rupert Evans (born 9 March 1977) is a British actor. He is a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and starred in the Amazon series '' The Man in the High Castle'' and also in the CW's '' Charmed'' series. In 2021 Evans appeared in '' Bridge ...
– Frederick Hale
*
Brian Protheroe
Brian Protheroe (born 16 June 1944) is an English musician, actor and narrator. He is best known for his first single, "Pinball", which was released in August 1974, and entered the UK Singles Chart at number 40 and reached a peak of number 22. ...
– Mr. Bell
*
John Light – Henry Lennox
*
Emma Ferguson
Emma Ferguson is a British actress. She is best known for her starring role in the series ''Mile High'' and appearances in ''North and South'' and ''The Brides in the Bath.''
Early life
Emma Ferguson is from Wandsworth, London. She travelled re ...
– Edith Shaw Lennox
*
Jane Booker
Jane P Booker (born 9 May 1956) is an English actress. She was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, and has over 40 television roles to her credit.
One of her first roles was in James Ivory's "Hullabaloo Over Georgie and Bonnie's Pictures" ...
– Aunt Shaw
*
Will Houston
William Houston (born 19 July 1968), sometimes credited as Will Houston, is an English actor.
Early life and career
Born in Sussex, he grew up in Northern Ireland.
Trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama, Houston has played many le ...
– John Boucher
* Cherry Alto - Beky
Production
Origins
Sandy Welch
Sandra Elizabeth "Sandy" Welch (born 6 December 1953 in Chester, Cheshire) is a British television writer and screenwriter.
Welch is a graduate of the National Film and Television School.
As a screenwriter, Welch has developed many serials fo ...
started adapting
Elizabeth Gaskell
Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell (''née'' Stevenson; 29 September 1810 – 12 November 1865), often referred to as Mrs Gaskell, was an English novelist, biographer and short story writer. Her novels offer a detailed portrait of the lives of many st ...
's 1855 ''
North and South North and South may refer to:
Literature
* ''North and South'' (Gaskell novel), an 1854 novel by Elizabeth Gaskell
* ''North and South'' (trilogy), a series of novels by John Jakes (1982–1987)
** ''North and South'' (Jakes novel), first novel ...
'' in 2001, making a few changes to emphasise the industrial landscape of the story. Welch's story, for example, begins and ends with the main character Margaret Hale travelling by train, which is not the starting and ending point of the novel (although Gaskell describes the Hales travelling from the South to the North by train). Welch also made the main characters visit the
Great Exhibition of 1851
The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition which took pl ...
. These are changes Welch believed Gaskell would have done "if she'd had the time", since Gaskell had complained of being under pressure to complete the novel by her editor
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
.
[Shannon, Sarah (10 November 2004).]
Love in a cold climate
. ''The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
''. Retrieved on 23 March 2008 In the summer of 2003 Kate Bartlett was brought to the project as a producer and a ten-week period of pre-production started at the beginning of February.
Casting
Daniela Denby-Ashe had not originally auditioned for the role of Margaret Hale but for that of Fanny Thornton,
and was not sure she would be participating on the project, but the producers had been looking for the right Margaret for a long time and Denby-Ashe's "directness, energy and charm" as well as the chemistry she had with would-be co-star Richard Armitage proved decisive. Armitage himself had been the first actor to read for the role of John Thornton and even though his performance had impressed producer Kate Bartlett and casting director Jill Trevellick, they still had to see many other possible Thorntons.
["Interview with Richard Armitage". Special feature. ''North and South''. Dir. Percival, Brian. Perf. Daniela Denby-Ashe, and Richard Armitage. 2004. DVD. BBC DVD, 2005.] Three weeks after casting had begun, Trevellick decided to recapitulate the first auditions, realising that Armitage was "perfect".
[Staff writer (June 2007). "A Northern Tale". ''The DVD Collection''.]
Filming
![Bluebell Railway LCDR coach at Kingscote](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/Bluebell_Railway_LCDR_coach_at_Kingscote.jpg)
Filming took place from the end of April 2004 until July 2004.
[Bartlett, Kate; Percival, Brian and Welch, Sandy. Audio commentary. ''North and South''. Dir. Percival, Brian. Perf. Daniela Denby-Ashe, and Richard Armitage. 2004. DVD. BBC DVD, 2005.]
Gaskell's fictional town of Milton, Darkshire, was loosely based on
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, but the producers decided to shoot many of the town scenes in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, which maintains more of its visual and architectural heritage from the industrial
Victorian era
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...
.
Keighley
Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parish
in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford.
Keighley is north-west of Bradford city centre, north-west of Bi ...
in
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...
became one of the main locations, the cotton mill's exteriors were filmed at Dalton Mill. The scenes inside the mill were shot at
Helmshore Textile Museum in
Rossendale and
Queen Street Mill
Queen Street Mill is a former weaving mill in Harle Syke, a suburb to the north-east of Burnley, Lancashire, that is a It was built in 1894 for the Queen Street Manufacturing Company. It closed on 12 March 1982 and was mothballed, but was su ...
on the outskirts of
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
,
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
.
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
was another main location, all the interior scenes were shot at the
Ealing Studios
Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever s ...
in west
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
and the Great Exhibition scene was shot at
Alexandra Palace
Alexandra Palace is a Grade II listed entertainment and sports venue in London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. It is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and the later Tottenham Wood Farm. Origi ...
in
North London
North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire.
The term ''nort ...
.
Other locations were
Selkirk, a town in the
Scottish Borders
The Scottish Borders ( sco, the Mairches, 'the Marches'; gd, Crìochan na h-Alba) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lothi ...
,
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
in Lancashire, and the
Bluebell Railway
The Bluebell Railway is an heritage line almost entirely in West Sussex in England, except for Sheffield Park which is in East Sussex. It is managed by the Bluebell Railway Preservation Society. It uses steam trains which operate between an ...
in
Sussex
Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...
, where the final and the beginning scenes were shot.
Additional railway sequences were filmed in Yorkshire, using carriages provided by the
Vintage Carriages Trust
The Museum of Rail Travel at Ingrow, England is operated by the Vintage Carriages Trust (VCT), a charity based just north of Ingrow (West) railway station on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway in West Yorkshire. Founded in 1965, it became a r ...
.
As a
costume drama
A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romances, adventure films, and swas ...
, ''North & South'' required substantial work from the art department. In 2005 the serial's
production designer
In film and television, the production designer is the individual responsible for the overall aesthetic of the story. The production design gives the viewers a sense of the time period, the plot location, and character actions and feelings. Wo ...
Simon Elliot received a
British Academy Television Award
The BAFTA TV Awards, or British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the BAFTA. They have been awarded annually since 1955.
Background
The first-ever Awards, given in 1955, consisted of six categories. Until ...
nomination for Best Production Design.
Music
Martin Phipps
Martin Phipps (born 1 August 1968) is a British composer, who has worked on numerous film and television projects.
Life and career
He is the son of Sue Pears and Jack Phipps, an arts administrator who had previously founded a management agen ...
composed the score for ''North & South''. The short piano tune is played throughout the whole series in different
rhythm
Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular recu ...
s. The music is especially loud and clear whenever there is a turning point in the relationship between Margaret and Thornton.
Reception
![WilliamStreet-Edinburgh](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/WilliamStreet-Edinburgh.jpg)
As the BBC had low expectations for the series, it was not well publicised and went almost unnoticed by critics. Audiences, however, were more receptive; hours after the first episode aired in November 2004, the
message board
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are often longer than one line of text, and are at least temporar ...
of the programme's website
crashed
"Crashed" is the third U.S. rock Single (music), single, (the fifth overall), from the band Daughtry (band), Daughtry's debut album. It was released only to U.S. rock stations on September 5, 2007. Upon its release the song got adds at those stat ...
because of the number of visitors the site was receiving, forcing host
bbc.co.uk
BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and BBC Sport, Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, t ...
to shut it down. This sudden interest on the serial was attributed to Richard Armitage, a relatively unknown actor, whose portrayal of the emotionally restrained John Thornton drew parallels with
Colin Firth
Colin Andrew Firth (born 10 September 1960) is an English actor and producer. He was identified in the mid-1980s with the " Brit Pack" of rising young British actors, undertaking a challenging series of roles, including leading roles in '' A M ...
's portrayal of
Fitzwilliam Darcy
Fitzwilliam Darcy Esquire, generally referred to as Mr. Darcy, is one of the two central characters in Jane Austen's 1813 novel '' Pride and Prejudice''. He is an archetype of the aloof romantic hero, and a romantic interest of Elizabeth Benne ...
on the BBC's 1995 mini-series ''
Pride and Prejudice
''Pride and Prejudice'' is an 1813 novel of manners by Jane Austen. The novel follows the character development of Elizabeth Bennet, the dynamic protagonist of the book who learns about the repercussions of hasty judgments and comes to appreci ...
'', and the reception he later received.
Armitage himself claims that the series was a success because of the "industrial landscape and the attention
hat the series givesto the
working class
The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...
es and the way they develop". The reaction to the series was a surprise to the BBC, who then decided to release the DVD on 11 April 2005.
''North & South'' was voted "Best Drama" in the BBC drama website's annual poll in 2004. Richard Armitage was voted "Most Desirable Drama Star" and "Best Actor", Daniela Denby-Ashe was voted "Best Actress" and three different scenes were voted as the year's "Favourite Moments", with the final scene winning the number one spot.
References
External links
*
*
*
VCT filming: North & SouthNorth and South 2004 (unofficial) site
{{DEFAULTSORT:North and South (TV serial)
BBC television dramas
Television series set in the 1850s
Television shows based on British novels
2000s British drama television series
2004 British television series debuts
2004 British television series endings
2000s British television miniseries
Costume drama television series
English-language television shows
Films shot in Edinburgh