Casanova (1971 TV serial)

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''Casanova'' is a British television drama serial, written by television playwright

Dennis Potter Dennis Christopher George Potter (17 May 1935 – 7 June 1994) was an English television dramatist, screenwriter and journalist. He is best known for his BBC television serials '' Pennies from Heaven'' (1978), ''The Singing Detective'' (198 ...

. Directed by Mark Cullingham and John Glenister, the serial was made by the

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and screened on the BBC2 network in November and December 1971. It is loosely based on

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

adventurer

Giacomo Casanova Giacomo Girolamo Casanova (, ; 2 April 1725 – 4 June 1798) was an Italian adventurer and author from the Republic of Venice. His autobiography, (''Story of My Life''), is regarded as one of the most authentic sources of information about the c ...

's ''

Histoire de ma vie ''Histoire de ma vie'' (''History of My Life'') is both the memoir and autobiography of Giacomo Casanova, a famous 18th-century Italian adventurer. A previous, bowdlerized version was originally known in English as ''The Memoirs of Jacques ...

'' (''Story of My Life''; 1780–1792). It was Dennis Potter's first television serial, having previously written single plays for the BBC's ''

The Wednesday Play ''The Wednesday Play'' is an anthology series of British television plays which ran on BBC1 for six seasons from October 1964 to May 1970. The plays were usually original works written for television, although dramatic adaptations of fiction ...

'' and '' Play for Today'' series.

Frank Finlay Francis Finlay, (6 August 1926 – 30 January 2016) was an English stage, film and television actor, Oscar-nominated for a supporting role as Iago in Laurence Olivier's 1965 film adaptation of ''Othello''. In 1983, Finlay was directed by Ital ...

starred in the title role and was nominated for the best actor award at the 1972 BAFTA ceremony.

Plot

Episode one: "Steed in the Stable"

After being arrested and charged with "foul atheism" and fornication, Casanova is sentenced to five years imprisonment at " The Leads": the most notorious of Venetian gaols. Brutalised by Lorenzo the gaoler and devoid of hope under the harsh prison regime, Casanova's mind wanders back to his past loves and adventures. He finds himself haunted by the memory of Christina, a simple country girl he gave to another rather than marry her himself.

Episode two: "One at a Time"

Casanova receives a new cellmate in the form of Schalon, a corrupt

insurance broker An insurance broker is an intermediary who sells, solicits, or negotiates insurance on behalf of a client for compensation. An insurance broker is distinct from an insurance agent in that a broker typically acts on behalf of a client by negotia ...

, and reflects on his seduction of three daughters at a house in

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Episode three: "Magic Moments"

Casanova is irritated by his constantly complaining cell mate Schalon and remembers how he once pretended to be a magician casting a spell to seduce the virgin daughter of an old naive man.

Episode four: "Window, Window"

The episode flashes back and forward between Casanova trying to seduce Anne Roman-Coupier, even though his friend strongly discourages this, and him trying to receive some books while being in prison. He is also haunted by memories of watching a man being executed and him smashing a window with a stone in Venice.

Episode five: "Fevers of Love"

While in his prison cell, Casanova is tormented by fever dreams and flashbacks to his past loves and especially his stay in London.

Episode six: "Golden Apples"

This episode flashes back and forward between Casanova finally managing to escape from his prison cell and him trying to write his memoirs in Castle of Duchcov near the end of his life as an old, dying man.

Cast

*Giacomo Casanova -

*Lorenzo - Norman Rossington *Christina - Zienia Merton *Barberina - Christine Noonan *Senator Bragadin - Geoffrey Wincott *Valenglart - David Swift *Dr Bellotti - Basil Clarke *Arlecchino - Tim Thomas *Anne Roman-Coupier - Ania Marson *Schalon -

Patrick Newell Patrick David Newell (27 March 1932 – 22 July 1988) was a British actor, known for his large size. Early life and education The second son of Eric Llewellyn Newell, of High Lodge, Hadleigh, Suffolk, an Oxford-educated physician who served ...

*Genoveffa - Lyn Yeldham *Rose - Julia Cornelius *Manon - Brigid Erin Bates *Anna - Caroline Dowdeswell *Helena - Elaine Donnelly *Pantalone - Hugh Portnow *Circospetto -

Christopher Hancock Christopher Anthony Arthur Hancock (5 June 1928 – 29 September 2004) was a British television and theatre actor. He was born in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, England. His brother was actor Stephen Hancock. He and his brother trained a ...

*Columbina - Rown Wylie *Nun - Gillian Brown *Feldkirchner -

Graham Crowden Clement Graham Crowden (30 November 1922 – 19 October 2010) was a Scottish actor. He was best known for his many appearances in television comedy dramas and films, often playing eccentric "offbeat" scientist, teacher and doctor characters. Ea ...

*Dr Rasp -

John Ringham John Henry Ringham (10 February 1928 – 20 October 2008) was a British actor who appeared on both television and stage. Among his roles was that of Norman Warrender in the 1980s sitcom ''Just Good Friends''. Early life Ringham was born in Che ...

*Father Balbi - Roger Hammond *Carlo - Igo Silic *Concertmaster - Oliver Butterworth *Pauline -

Valerie Gearon Valerie Winifred Gearon (27 September 1937 – 9 July 2003) was a British actress, born in Newport, Monmouthshire. She was known for ''Anne of the Thousand Days'' (1969), '' Nine Hours to Rama'' (1963) and ''Invasion'' (1966). From 1962 to ...

Production

In 1966, William R. Trask published the first of his 12 volume translation of Casanova's memoirs while Potter was working as a book reviewer for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' newspaper. Potter had been after a subject for his first drama serial and found in Casanova a suitable figure to continue the themes of sex, memory and redemption that had influenced much of his previous work. When writing the serial Potter decided not to read the story of Casanova's adventures, choosing instead to work from a list containing the names of Casanova's lovers and specific events from his life."Most autobiographies are lying and self-serving," Potter informed Graham Fuller in ''Potter on Potter''; "And I assumed his would be no different." Potter intended to explore the reason why Casanova was "driven" to have had so many sexual encounters. As a result, Potter's Casanova is far different from other interpretations of the character; he suffers from ''tristitia post-coitum'' (literally, the sadness after sex) and considers his reliance on women for sexual satisfaction a weakness. The serial includes a number of events that depart from established facts about Casanova. The series resulted in a number of complaints to the BBC. Clean-up TV campaigner Mary Whitehouse, who regularly found fault with Potter's work, thought the first two episodes "boring" and believed the third used a kind of ''

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'' flashback photography.Charles Gillie
"Mrs Whitehouse, ''Casanova'', and ''Tom Brown's Schooldays''"
''Glasgow Herald'', 8 December 1971, p. 8 She commented to a journalist from ''

The Glasgow Herald ''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...

'': "Of all the characters the BBC could have chosen to dramatise Casanova is the most ridiculous."

Home media

''Casanova'' was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

by BBC Worldwide in 2004, as part of ''The Dennis Potter Collection'', a range of Potter's work released that year.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Casanova (1971 TV Serial) 1971 British television series debuts 1971 British television series endings 1970s British drama television series BBC television dramas Television series set in the 18th century Films about Giacomo Casanova Venice in fiction Television shows written by Dennis Potter 1970s British television miniseries English-language television shows