''Florence Nightingale'' was a 60-minute 2008

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, ...

television drama on the early years of

Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War, i ...

, from 1837 to the Royal Commission into the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

. Nightingale was played by

Laura Fraser Laura Fraser (born 24 July 1975) is a Scottish actress. She has played Door in the urban fantasy series ''Neverwhere'', Kate in the film '' A Knight's Tale'', Cat MacKenzie in the BBC Three drama series ''Lip Service'' and Lydia Rodarte-Quay ...

, and her father by

Michael Pennington Michael Vivian Fyfe Pennington (born 7 June 1943) is a British actor, director and writer. Together with director Michael Bogdanov, he founded the English Shakespeare Company in 1986 and was its Joint Artistic Director until 1992. He has writ ...

. It was first broadcast on Sunday 1 June 2008.

Cast

as Wen, Florence's father *Derek Hicks as Surviving Soldier *Zoe Street Howe as Queen Victoria *Andrew Harrison as

Lord Palmerston Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, (20 October 1784 – 18 October 1865) was a British statesman who was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century. Palmerston dominated British foreign policy during the period ...

Lorraine Cheshire Lorraine Cheshire (born 15 August 1958) is an English actress, known for her roles as Sue Benson in the Sky sitcom '' Trollied'', Fleur Budgen in the BBC One school-based drama '' Waterloo Road'' and Lorraine Bird in the Channel 4 school-based ...

as Watson, Nightingale maid * Roy Hudd as Music Hall Barker *Daryl Fishwick as Music Hall Florence *Ben Stott as Music Hall Singer *Sam Maurice, Paul Moorcroft, Richard Kelly, Harriet Web, and Kate Joseph as Music Hall Performers *Robert Aram as Doctor *

Barbara Marten Barbara Marten (born 3 January 1947) is a British actress. She is most known for playing Eve Montgomery in ''Casualty''. She has appeared in various soaps, including Eastenders and Brookside, as well as many other drama serials such as ''Harry' ...

as Fanny, Florence's mother *

Catherine Tyldesley Catherine Tyldesley (born 17 September 1983) is an English actress, comedian and model known for her roles as Iris Moss in the BBC drama ''Lilies'', Eva Price on the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' from 2011 to 2018 and Karen Norris in ...

as Parthenope, Florence's elder sister *

Ian Bartholomew Ian Bartholomew (born 23 August 1954) is a British actor and musician from Portsmouth, England who has worked widely in both theatre and television. In March 2018, Bartholomew joined the cast of ITV soap opera, ''Coronation Street'', as Geoff ...

as Sidney Herbert *Keith Clifford as the colonel *Paul Opacic as Richard Monckton Milnes *Chris Kerry, Cheryl Willday, Violet Foode, Wendy Patterson, and Debbie Rush as Nurse interviewees *Olwen May as Mother Mary Clare *John Axon (actor), John Axon as Orderly *Jon Croft as Sir John Hall (doctor), John Hall *Tim Beasley as Fitzgerald *Sam McKenzie as Dr Farr

Crew

*Writer and director - Norman Stone *Producer - Roger Childs *Consulting Producer - Kenneth Cavander *Director of Photography - Michael Fox *Editor - Colin Goudie *Music - Jeremy Soule

Filming locations

*Lea hurst, Derbyshire *Butterley Station, Ripley, Derbyshire, Ripley *St John the Baptist Church, Tideswell *Manchester Town Hall *Croxteth Hall, St George's Hall, High Park Reservoir - Liverpool

External links

* 2008 films 2008 television films 2000s biographical films British biographical films British television films Crimean War films Films scored by Jeremy Soule Films about Florence Nightingale Films set in the 19th century Films shot in Derbyshire Films shot in Greater Manchester Films shot in Merseyside Cultural depictions of Queen Victoria Cultural depictions of Florence Nightingale 2000s British films {{UK-tv-film-stub