''El tiempo entre costuras'' (literally ''The Time Between Seams'', English title: ''The Time in Between'') is a Spanish

period 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 ...

television series produced by Boomerang TV for Antena 3. It is an adaptation of the same-titled 2009 novel by María Dueñas, published in English language under the titles ''The Time in Between'' and ''The Seamstress''. It premiered on October 21, 2013 on Antena 3. The premiere was seen by 5.018 million people, making it the most watched premiere on Antena 3 in 12 years.

Plot

The story begins in 1934. Between Youth and Adulthood... Sira Quiroga is a young and attractive seamstress living a humble life in Madrid with her single mother Dolores. During a festival she meets Ignacio, an aspiring gentleman applying for a position in the Spanish civil service. They begin a relationship and soon decide to marry. Meanwhile, Dona Manuela's business is running slow, leaving her with no other option but to close down the shop, leaving all the seamstresses, including Sira and her mother, unemployed and fully reliant on Ignacio's prestigious position as a civil servant. Sira remains unemployed until Ignacio finally convinces her to apply for a civil service post, but to do this she must learn to use a typewriter. At the typewriter shop, she falls in love with the handsome Ramiro Arribas, which puts her in a difficult predicament. After a while, unable to cope with the guilt of marrying Ignacio, she tells him she has been seeing Ramiro. Ignacio is heartbroken. He tells Dolores about Sira's betrayal, and her mother disowns her. Sira moves in with Ramiro. After months, Dolores finds Sira with news that her long-lost father has asked to see her. They visit him together, and Sira discovers that her father is one of the wealthiest men in Madrid, Gonzalo Alvarez. When he showers her with jewels and money, Sira shares her newfound fortune with Ramiro, who suggests investing some of the money in a typewriting company in Argentina. Their investments take them to Tangier, Morocco. Sira sadly leaves her mother behind and takes a leap of faith to set off for Africa with Ramiro. Soon, Ramiro starts wasting Sira's money on alcohol and tobacco. She has an argument with him about his money management and says she feels alone. The following day she sees a doctor as she is feeling unwell all the time, and discovers she is pregnant. Hopeful this will save her relationship, Sira hurries to their luxury apartment at the International Hotel to break the news to Ramiro, but finds the place ransacked and empty, with a letter from Ramiro saying he has decided to start a different life and has taken all Sira's money and jewels with him. In desperation Sira packs her things, leaves the hotel without a word and gets on a bus out of Tangier. On the journey she has a miscarriage and faints. She wakes up handcuffed in a hospital in Tetuoan and realizes that Ramiro never paid their bills at the hotel, leaving her with a debt of almost 2,500 French francs. The hotel gives her a year to pay before she is sent to prison. She is unable to contact her mother or return to Madrid because war has broken out there. Meanwhile, she is given shelter in Candelaria Matutera's guesthouse. As England, Germany, and the other great powers become embroiled in the dire conflict of World War II, Sira is persuaded to return to Madrid, where she takes on a new identity to embark upon the most dangerous undertaking of her career. Thanks to her workshop, Sira meets important people like Juan Luis Beigbeder, the High Commissioner of the Protectorate; Beigbeder's mistress Rosalinda Fox, who becomes a close friend to Sira;

Ramón Serrano Suñer Ramón Serrano Suñer (12 September 1901 – 1 September 2003), was a Spanish politician during the first stages of the Francoist dictatorship, between 1938 and 1942, when he held the posts of President of the FET y de las JONS caucus (1936) ...

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...

's brother-in-law; and

Alan Hillgarth Captain Alan Hugh Hillgarth (1899–1978) was a British adventure novelist and member of the intelligence services, perhaps best known for his activities in Spain during and after the Spanish Civil War. Hillgarth appears as one of the actual hist ...

, head of the British intelligence service in Spain. These people encourage Sira to become a spy, using the skills of her trade for more dangerous tasks. As the couturier of choice for an eager clientele of Nazi officers' wives, Sira becomes embroiled in a twilight world of espionage and political conspiracy rife with love, intrigue, and betrayal.

Production

The series was filmed in various locations in Spain,

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. María Dueñas' original novel is set in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

Tangier Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the cap ...

Tétouan Tétouan ( ar, تطوان, tiṭwān, ber, ⵜⵉⵟⵟⴰⵡⴰⵏ, tiṭṭawan; es, Tetuán) is a city in northern Morocco. It lies along the Martil Valley and is one of the two major ports of Morocco on the Mediterranean Sea, a few miles so ...

and

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

. Most of scenes in the series were filmed in these cities. Some of the scenes were filmed in

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...

and Toledo in Spain, and

Estoril Estoril () is a town in the Municipality of Cascais, Portugal, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a tourist destination, with luxury hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numerous royal families and celebrities, and has host ...

and

Cascais Cascais () is a town and municipality in the Lisbon District of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera. The municipality has a total of 214,158 inhabitants in an area of 97.40 km2. Cascais is an important tourism in Portugal, tourist de ...

in Portugal. The budget was estimated in over 500,000

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

s per episode.

Cast and characters

* Adriana Ugarte as Sira Quiroga ''aka'' Sira Alvarado Quiroga ''aka'' Arish Agoriuq *

Elvira Mínguez Elvira Mínguez (born 23 July 1965) is a Spanish actress. Mínguez has appeared in such films as '' La cacatúa verde'' (1990), '' El carro de heno'' (1991), ''The Lucky Star'', ''Tapas'' (2005) and '' El desconocido'' (2015). Her television cre ...

as Dolores Quiroga *

Raúl Arévalo Raúl Arévalo Zorzo (born 22 November 1979) is a Spanish actor and director, known by international audiences for his role in the film '' Summer Rain'', directed by Antonio Banderas. Career Raúl Arévalo Zorzo was born on 22 November 1979 in ...

as Ignacio *

Tristán Ulloa Tristán Ulloa (born 6 May 1970) is a Spanish actor, writer, and director. Career He was born in Orléans and lived with his Spanish grandparents exiled in France. He spent his teenage years in Vigo, Galicia. His mother, Esther San Román, lives ...

as Juan Luis Beigbeder *

Hannah New Hannah New (born 13 May 1984) is an English actress. She is known for her starring role on the television show '' Black Sails'' in which she plays Eleanor Guthrie, the owner of a saloon in Nassau, and also for her role as Rosalinda Fox in ''Th ...

as Rosalinda Fox *

Peter Vives Peter Vives Newey (born 14 July 1987) is a Spanish actor. He was born in Barcelona to a New Zealand mother and a Spanish father. He is perhaps best known for his role as Angel in ''The Cheetah Girls 2'', where he sang and played the guitar. He ...

as Marcus Logan * Carlos Santos as Félix Aranda *

Francesc Garrido Francesc Garrido (born 1969) is a Spanish film, television and stage actor from Catalonia. Biography Francesc Garrido was born in 1969 in Barcelona. He trained his acting chops at the Barcelona's Institut del Teatre, further advancing his traini ...

as Claudio Vázquez * Filipe Duarte as Manuel Da Silva * as Candelaria "La Matutera" * Rubén Cortada as Ramiro Arribas * as Ramiro Arribas (voice) *

Pepa Rus Josefa "Pepa" Rus (born 6 October 1985) is a Spanish actress, humorist, and singer known for having played the role of Inmaculada "Macu" Colmenero on the TV series ''Aída''. Biography In mid–2007, Pepa Rus joined the secondary cast of the seri ...

as Paquita *

Elena Irureta Elena Irureta Azanza (born 30 July 1955) is a Spanish actress. She has performed in many Basque-language and Spanish-language television productions. Biography Elena Irureta Azanza was born in Zumaia (Gipuzkoa) on 30 July 1955. She became a p ...

as Doña Manolita *

Alba Flores Alba González Villa (born October 27, 1986), known professionally as Alba Flores, is a Spanish actress. She is best known for her roles as Saray Vargas in '' Vis a Vis (Locked Up)'' and Nairobi in '' La Casa de Papel (Money Heist)''. She ident ...

as Jamila *Carlos Olalla as Gonzalo Alvarado *

Ben Temple Ben Temple (born 1969) is an American-born actor who has developed his career in Spain. Biography Ben Temple was born in 1969 in New York. After moving to Spain in 1991, he installed permanently in the country in 1999. In 2003, he married actress ...

* as Palomares *Jimmy Shaw as Peter Fox *

Enrique Arce Enrique Javier Arce Temple (born October 8, 1972) is a Spanish television and film actor. Biography Arce was born in Valencia, Spain on 8 October 1972. He originally went to university to study law, but during his fourth year, he decided to mo ...

as Andrés *Aurora Maestre as Doña Encarna *Ángela Romanillos as Sira Quiroga (child) * Aida Ballmann as Anika Von Fries

Soundtrack

Music score was composed by César Benito. The soundtrack album reached #2 on Spain’s iTunes Store Albums, and #1 on the Soundtracks category. It also won numerous awards, including Best Music for Television by the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Television of Spain, and is one of the most played TV soundtracks worldwide on Spotify with more than two million plays since its release. The "Theme of Sira" from the soundtrack was used by Spanish gymnast

Carolina Rodríguez Carolina Rodríguez Ballesteros (born 24 May 1986 in León) is a retired Spanish rhythmic gymnast. She is a veteran of the sport who started her senior career in the early 2000s. She competed in three Olympic cycles: at the 2004 Athens where ...

in her ribbon routine since 2014, including the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

List of episodes

International broadcast

The rights for ''El tiempo entre costuras'' were acquired in Italy by

Canale 5 Canale 5 () is an Italian free-to-air television channel of Mediaset, owned by MFE - MediaForEurope. It was the first private television network to have a national coverage in Italy in 1980. On 4 December 2012, Mediaset launched Canale 5 HD, a s ...

; the series premiered in Italy on April 25, 2014 as ''Il tempo del coraggio e dell'amore'' (''The Time of Courage and Love'') and aired with an average of 3.4 million viewers (14% share). In

, the series aired on TVI. In Japan, the series premiered in June 2015 on

NHK General TV , abbreviated on-screen as NHK G, is the main television service of NHK, the Japanese public broadcaster. Its programming includes news, drama, quiz/variety shows, music, sports, anime, and specials which compete directly with the output of its ...

as ''Jonetsu no Shira'' (''Sira's Passion''). The rights for the series have also been acquired in China (

CCTV-8 CCTV-8 is the television drama channel of the CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

( PTS),

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

( MTVA),

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

(

RTL Televizija RTL (previously known as RTL Televizija) is a Croatian free-to-air television network founded on 30 April 2004. It was owned by the RTL Group from 2004 to 2022. Since 1 June 2022, it is owned by the CME Group. The logo consisted of three prima ...

) or

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

(

TVN TVN may refer to: * TVN (Australian TV channel), a former horse racing channel * Televisión Nacional de Chile, a public broadcaster * TVN (Indonesia), a former television station; predecessor of Rajawali Televisi * TVN (Norway), or TVNorge, a comm ...

), among others. This series is also available on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

in the USA on their streaming services.

Awards and nominations

, - , align = "center" rowspan = 16 , 2014 , , rowspan = 4 , Actors Union Awards , , Best Leading Actress , , Adriana Ugarte , , , , rowspan = 4 , , - , Best Supporting Actress , ,

, , , - , Best Supporting Actor , , Carlos Santos , , , - , Best Actor in a Minor Role , ,

, , , - , rowspan = 8 , 17th , , colspan = 2 , Best Fiction , , , , rowspan = 8 , , - , Best Actor , ,

, , , - , Best Actress , , Adriana Ugarte , , , - , Best Direction , , , Iñaki Peñafiel and Norberto L. Amado , , , - , Best Production , , Gregorio Quintana, Ángeles Caballero, Emilio Pina and Reyes Baltanás , , , - , Best Cinematography Direction and Lighting , , Juan Molina Temboury , , , - , Best Art Direction and Scenography , , Luis Vallés and Bina Daigeler , , , - , Best Music for TV , , César Benito , , , - , 61st

Ondas Awards The Premios Ondas (Spanish: literally "wave awards", also known in English as the Ondas Awards or simply The Ondas) have been given since 1954 by Radio Barcelona, a subsidiary of Cadena SER, in recognition of professionals in the fields of radio ...

, , Best Actress in Spanish Fiction , , Adriana Ugarte , , , , , - , rowspan = 3 , 2nd , , colspan = "2" , Best Miniseries , , , , rowspan = 3 , , - , Best Actress , , Adriana Ugarte , , , - , Best Direction , , Iñaki Mercero, Iñaki Peñafiel and Norberto López Amado , ,

References

External links

*
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Time in Between (TV series), The 2013 Spanish television series debuts 2014 Spanish television series endings 2010s Spanish drama television series Espionage television series Serial drama television series Television series about the history of Spain Television series based on Spanish novels Television series set in the 1930s Television series set in the 1940s Television shows set in Morocco Television shows set in Portugal Television shows set in Madrid Antena 3 (Spanish TV channel) network series Television series by Boomerang TV