''The House Under the Water'' is a British

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

television drama series In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-gen ...

which originally aired 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 eight parts during 1961.Baskin p.54 It is an adaptation of the 1932 novel '' The House Under the Water'' by

Francis Brett Young Francis Brett Young (29 June 1884 – 28 March 1954) was an English novelist, poet, playwright, composer, doctor and soldier. Life Francis Brett Young was born in Halesowen, Worcestershire. He received his early education at Iona, a pri ...

, which portrays the late nineteenth century flooding of the

Elan Valley The Elan Valley ( cy, Cwm Elan) is a river valley situated to the west of Rhayader, in Powys, Wales, sometimes known as the "Welsh Lake District". It covers of lake and countryside. The valley contains the Elan Valley Reservoirs and Elan Villa ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

to create a water supply for the rapidly growing city of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

. All eight episodes are now considered 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 ...

Cast

* Margaret Courtenay as Lucrezia Tregaron (8 episodes) *

Richard Bebb Richard Bebb (12 January 1927 – 12 April 2006) was an English actor of stage, screen and radio. Born Richard Bebb Williams in London, he changed his name to his mother's surname, Bebb, when he took up acting as there was already a British a ...

as Evan Vaughan (8 episodes) * Carole Mowlam as Philippa Tregaron (8 episodes) *

Emrys James Robert Emrys James (1 September 1928 – 5 February 1989) was a Welsh Shakespearean actor. He also performed in many theatre and TV parts between 1960 and 1989, and was an Associate Artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company. He was born in Machyn ...

as Rob Tregaron (8 episodes) *

William Squire William Squire (29 April 1917 – 3 May 1989) was a Welsh actor of stage, film and television. Squire was born in Neath, Glamorgan, the son of William Squire and his wife Martha (née Bridgeman). Career As a stage actor, Squire performed at S ...

as Griffith Tregaron (7 episodes) * Ray Smith as Gerald Tregaron (7 episodes) * Hira Talfrey as Caterina (7 episodes) * Lesley Lloyd as Virginia Tregaron (6 episodes) * Aubrey Richards as Abel Pugh (6 episodes) * Annest Williams as Diana Tregaron (5 episodes) * Patricia Mort as Janet Delahaye (5 episodes) *

Arnold Bell Arnold Bell (23 May 1901 – 12 March 1988) was a British actor. Selected filmography * ''Convict 99'' (1919) - Warder Gannawy * '' Doctor Josser K.C.'' (1931) * '' Josser in the Army'' (1932) - Becker * ''Doss House'' (1933) - Reporter * '' ...

as Sir Trevor Delahaye (4 episodes) *

David Lyn David Lyn Jenkins (30 April 1927 – 4 August 2012), known professionally as David Lyn, was a Welsh television, film Hubert Rees Hubert Rees (27 April 1928 – 20 October 2009) was a Welsh character actor, known for his supporting roles in British television shows throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Early life Rees was born on 27 April 1928 in Abergavenny, Wales. Career R ...

as Esmond Delahaye (3 episodes) * D.L. Davies as Meredith (2 episodes) *

Ian Colin Ian Colin (1912–1987) was a British film and television actor. During the 1930s, Colin was a leading man in Quota quickies. He later acted predominantly in television shows such as ''The Quatermass Experiment'', ''Emergency-Ward 10'' and ''Coro ...

as Sir Arthur Weldon (2 episodes) * Edward Evans as Mr. Barradale (2 episodes) * Ieuan Rhys Williams as Mr. Prosser (2 episodes) * Otto Diamant as Otto Wiener (2 episodes) * T.H. Evans as Man at the Inn (1 episode) * Ivor Maddox as Stockbroker (1 episode) * Emrys Cleaver as Man at the Inn (1 episode) * W.H. Williams as Man at the Inn (1 episode) * Pryor Williams as Sergeant Ambrose (1 episode) * John Gill as Mr. Verona (1 episode) *

Desmond Llewelyn Desmond Wilkinson Llewelyn (; 12 September 1914GRO Register of Births: DEC 1914 11a 490 NEWPORT M. – Desmond W. Llewelyn, mmn = Wilkinson – 19 December 1999GRO Register of Deaths: JUN 2000 A70E 247 EASTBOURNE – Desmond Wilkinson Llewelyn, D ...

as Colonel Tregaron (1 episode) * Conrad Evans as Mr. Parry (1 episode) *

Frederick Schiller Frederick Schiller (23 August 1901 – 29 September 1994) was an Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federat ...

as Mr. Dagmar (1 episode)

References

Bibliography

*Ellen Baskin. ''Serials on British Television, 1950-1994''. Scolar Press, 1996.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:House Under The Water BBC television dramas 1961 British television series debuts 1961 British television series endings English-language television shows