''Bill Brand'' 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 ...

drama series produced by

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...

for the ITV network which was shown in the summer of 1976. Written by

Trevor Griffiths Trevor ( Trefor in the Welsh language) is a common given name or surname of Welsh origin. It is an habitational name, deriving from the Welsh ''tre(f)'', meaning "homestead", or "settlement" and ''fawr'', meaning "large, big". The Cornish langu ...

, the series charts the political progress of the eponymous Brand, who becomes a Labour Party

member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for a Lancashire constituency after retaining the seat at a by-election with a small majority. A former Liberal Studies lecturer at a local

Technical college An institute of technology (also referred to as: technological university, technical university, university of technology, technological educational institute, technical college, polytechnic university or just polytechnic) is an institution of te ...

, Brand finds the demands of his career at odds with his

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

convictions. Produced as one series of eleven episodes, ''Bill Brand'' stars Jack Shepherd in the title role. Arthur Lowe appeared as the Prime Minister, Arthur Watson (a character loosely based on Harold Wilson).

Alan Badel Alan Fernand Badel (; 11 September 1923 – 19 March 1982) was an English stage actor who also appeared frequently in the cinema, radio and television and was noted for his richly textured voice which was once described as "the sound of tears ...

played a left-wing Cabinet minister, David Last (a character based on

Michael Foot Michael Mackintosh Foot (23 July 19133 March 2010) was a British Labour Party politician who served as Labour Leader from 1980 to 1983. Foot began his career as a journalist on ''Tribune'' and the ''Evening Standard''. He co-wrote the 1940 p ...

), connected with ''The Journal'', a thinly disguised ''

Tribune Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs acted as a check on th ...

'' newspaper. The decline of the textile industry, a major employer in Brand's constituency, is a secondary theme of the series.

Geoffrey Palmer Geoffrey Palmer may refer to: Politicians * Sir Geoffrey Palmer, 1st Baronet (1598–1670), English lawyer and politician *Sir Geoffrey Palmer, 3rd Baronet (1655–1732), English politician, Member of Parliament (MP) for Leicestershire *Geoffrey Pa ...

and

Nigel Hawthorne Sir Nigel Barnard Hawthorne (5 April 1929 – 26 December 2001) was an English actor. He is most known for his stage acting and his portrayal of Sir Humphrey Appleby, the permanent secretary in the 1980s sitcom '' Yes Minister'' and the Cabi ...

were cast as moderate Trade ministers; the latter meets a delegation including Brand because his superior is engaged at a "City junket".

Cherie Lunghi Cherie Mary Lunghi (born 4 April 1952) is an English film, television, and theatre actress, known for her roles in many British TV dramas. Her international fame stems from her role as Guinevere in the 1981 film ''Excalibur''. Her long list of ...

played Alex, a young woman with whom Brand has been having an extra-marital affair. The main cast also included

Lynn Farleigh Marilyn J. "Lynn" Farleigh (born 3 May 1942) is an English actress of stage and screen. Early life Farleigh was born in Bath, Somerset on 3 May 1942 to Joseph Sydney Farleigh and his wife Marjorie Norah (née Clark). She attended the Redlan ...

, as Brand's estranged wife,

Rosemary Martin Rosemary Martin (17 December 1936 – 14 August 1998) was an England, English actress, born in Birmingham. She appeared in dozens of films from 1964 to 1998 and is also known for television roles including Mrs. Partridge in ''Last of the Summe ...

, as an MP who shares the same London house with Brand and other Labour MPs, and

Colin Jeavons Colin Abel Jeavons (born 20 October 1929) is a retired British television actor. Career Jeavons' earliest television role was as Jules Neraud in an episode of the 1956 anthology series of teleplays ''Nom-de-Plume''. Broadcast live, it is unkno ...

as a local constituency activist.

Cast

* Jack Shepherd as Bill Brand *

as Miriam Brand *

as Winnie Scoular *

as Alex Ferguson *

Allan Surtees Allan Joseph Surtees (31 December 1924 – 1 November 2000) was an English actor who appeared in many television productions and films over a 30-year period. Television appearances His television appearances included roles on '' Coronation ...

as Alf Jowett *Clifford Kershaw as Frank Hilton *

as David Last *

as Bernard Shaw * Arthur Lowe as Arthur Watson *

as Malcolm Frear *

as Browning

DVD release

The series was released on DVD in the UK in 2011.

References

External links

*
British Film Institute Screen Online
1976 British television series debuts 1976 British television series endings 1970s British drama television series ITV television dramas Television shows produced by Thames Television English-language television shows British political drama television series {{UK-tv-prog-stub