''Zastrozzi, A Romance'' is a 1986 four-part British television miniseries starring

Tilda Swinton Katherine Matilda Swinton (born 5 November 1960) is a British actress. Known for her roles in independent films and blockbusters, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition to ...

, Mark McGann, and

Max Wall Max Wall (12 March 1908 – 21 May 1990) was an English actor and comedian whose performing career covered music hall, films, television and theatre. Early years Wall was born Maxwell George Lorimer, son of the successful music hall entert ...

based on

Percy Bysshe Shelley Percy Bysshe Shelley ( ; 4 August 17928 July 1822) was one of the major English Romantic poets. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame during his lifetime, but recognition of his achie ...

's 1810 eponymous Gothic horror novel. It was produced by

Channel Four Films Film4 Productions is a British film production company owned by Channel Four Television Corporation. The company has been responsible for backing many films made in the United Kingdom. The company's first production was '' Walter'', directed by ...

and shown on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

in the UK and on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

in the U.S.

Plot

The plot revolves around an outlaw, Zastrozzi, who seeks revenge against his half-brother, Verezzi, whom he kidnaps and tortures. The story is about revenge and obsession. Zastrozzi seeks the death of Verezzi motivated by revenge. He works with Matilda to destroy Verezzi's relationship with Julia, whom Verezzi intends to marry. They concoct a deception that Julia is dead. Verezzi believes the lie. He becomes vulnerable to Matilda's seduction. When Verezzi discovers that Julia is not dead, staggered by his own betrayal, he kills himself. Matilda kills Julia in retaliation. The setting and time period have been changed from 1810 Munich, Passau, and Venice to 1986 England. All of the major characters have been retained.

Cast and characters

Geff Francis Geffrey "Geff" Francis (born 1964), best known as Geff Francis, is a British actor who portrayed Lynford, a hoodlum, in the 1988 drama film ''For Queen and Country''. In 1986 he appeared as the title character in Channel Four's ''Zastrozzi, A R ...

as Zastrozzi, an outlaw and a criminal * Mark McGann as Verezzi, a victim of Zastrozzi's revenge *

as Julia, the intended wife of Verezzi * Hilary Trott as Matilda, seduces Verezzi in plan concocted with Zastrozzi * Matthew Zajac as Ugo, works for Zastrozzi * Bernard Padden as Bernardo, works for Zastrozzi *

as Oliver the Priest, an irreverent priest *

Yvonne Bryceland Yvonne Bryceland (18 November 1925 – 13 January 1992) was a South African stage actress. Some of her best-known work was in the plays of Athol Fugard. Early life She was born Yvonne Heilbuth in Cape Town, South Africa, the daughter of Adolphus ...

as Claudine, a wheel-chair bound elderly woman * David Trevena as the Doctor *

Maxine Audley Maxine Audley (29 April 1923 – 23 July 1992) was an English theatre and film actress. She made her professional stage debut in July 1940 at the Open Air Theatre. Audley performed with the Old Vic company and the Royal Shakespeare Company many ...

as Bianca *

Chris Barrie Chris Barrie (born Christopher Jonathan Brown, 28 March 1960) is a British actor, comedian, and impressionist. He worked as a vocal impressionist on the ITV sketch show ''Spitting Image'' (1984–1996) and as Lara Croft's butler Hillary in the ...

as the Waiter

Episodes

Reception

The miniseries was shown on British television in 1986 on Channel 4. It was also shown on American television on

in a version by WNET on the "Channel Crossings" program. In 1990, Jeremy Isaacs named the dramatisation of ''Zastrozzi'' as one of the 10 programmes of which he was most proud during his tenure as Channel 4's chief executive. John J. O'Connor reviewed the miniseries in the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

when it debuted on PBS in the U.S. on 16 October 1986."A British Adaptation of Shelley's ''Zastrozzi''", ''New York Times'', 16 October 1986.
/ref> He characterized the production as “admirably adventurous and provocative” and deemed it "a strange and imaginative film". A soundtrack album featuring the film score composed by Martin Kiszko was released in 2017. The complete four-part mini-series was released on DVD by Simply Media on two discs on October 8, 2018 in the UK.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zastrozzi: A Romance (miniseries) 1980s British crime drama television series 1980s British mystery television series 1986 British television series debuts 1986 British television series endings Kidnapping in television Channel 4 crime television shows Channel 4 miniseries Channel 4 television dramas English-language television shows Murder in television Works by Percy Bysshe Shelley 1980s British romance television series