''The Crimson Field'' is a British period drama television series that was broadcast beginning on

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, ...

on 6 April 2014. The series shows the lives of medics and the patients at a fictional

field hospital A field hospital is a temporary hospital or mobile medical unit that takes care of casualties on-site before they can be safely transported to more permanent facilities. This term was initially used in military medicine (such as the Mobile A ...

in France during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Cast

Rupert Graves Rupert Simeon Graves (born 30 June 1963) is an English film, television, and theatre actor. He is known for his roles in ''A Room with a View'', '' Maurice'', '' The Madness of King George'' and '' The Forsyte Saga''. From 2010 to 2017 he star ...

as Major Edward Crecy *

Oona Chaplin Oona Castilla Chaplin (; born 4 June 1986) is a Spanish-Swiss actress. Her roles include Talisa Maegyr in the HBO TV series ''Game of Thrones'', Kitty Trevelyan in the BBC drama '' The Crimson Field'', and Zilpha Geary in the series ''Taboo' ...

as Kitty Trevelyan *

Hermione Norris Hermione Jane Norris (born 5 December 1966) is an English actress. She attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in the 1980s, before taking small roles in theatre and on television. In 1996, she was cast in her breakout role of Ka ...

as Grace Carter *

Suranne Jones Sarah Anne Akers (née Jones; born 27 August 1978), known professionally as Suranne Jones, is an English actress and producer. She rose to prominence as Karen McDonald in ''Coronation Street'' between 2000 to 2004. Upon leaving, she furthered h ...

as Sister Joan Livesey *

Kevin Doyle Kevin Edward Doyle (born 18 September 1983) is an Irish former professional footballer who played as a forward. He played for Wexford F.C. (formerly Wexford Youths), St Patrick's Athletic, and Cork City in his homeland before he moved to Eng ...

as Lt Col Roland Brett *

Kerry Fox Kerry Lauren Fox (born 30 July 1966) is a New Zealand actress. She came to prominence playing author Janet Frame in the movie '' An Angel at My Table'' directed by Jane Campion, which gained her a Best Actress Award from the New Zealand Film and ...

as Sister Margaret Quayle *

Alex Wyndham Alex Wyndham (born 1 January 1981) is an English actor, known for his role as Gaius Maecenas in the HBO television series ''Rome'' (2007). Biography He was educated at Winchester College and has a degree in history from the University of Oxfo ...

as Captain Miles Hesketh-Thorne *

Jeremy Swift Jeremy Paul Swift (born 27 June 1960) is an English actor. He studied drama at Guildford School of Acting from 1978 to 1981 and worked almost exclusively in theatre throughout the 1980s, working with companies such as Deborah Warner's Kick The ...

as Quartermaster Sergeant Reggie Soper *

Richard Rankin Richard Rankin (born Richard Harris on 4 January 1983) is a Scottish film, television and theatre actor. He is best known for the Scottish sketch show '' Burnistoun'' and as Roger Wakefield MacKenzie in the Starz drama '' Outlander''. Early li ...

as Captain Thomas Gillan *Marianne Oldham as Rosalie Berwick * Alice St. Clair as Flora Marshall *Jack Gordon as Orderly Corporal Peter Foley *Liam James Collins as Tommy

Production

Originally called ''The Ark'', the series was commissioned by

Ben Stephenson Benjamin Stephenson is a television executive, formerly controller of drama at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and currently Head of Television at Bad Robot Productions in the United States. Personal life Stephenson attended The ...

and Danny Cohen as part of the

BBC World War I centenary season The BBC World War I centenary season was the marking of the centenary of the First World War across the BBC. Programming started in 2014 and lasted until 2018, corresponding to 100 years after the war. The BBC season included 130 newly-commissio ...

. Sarah Phelps, the creator of ''The Crimson Field'' said: "I am bouncing off the walls with excitement at having such an extraordinary talented cast, bouncing off the walls." Filming began in August 2013. The Historic Dockyard Chatham and HMS ''Gannet'' featured in the first episode of the series doubling as the Port of Boulogne, France.

Dyrham Park Dyrham Park () is a baroque English country house in an ancient deer park near the village of Dyrham in South Gloucestershire, England. The house, attached orangery, stable block, and accompanying parish church are Grade I listed buildings, w ...

appeared in scenes as a French hotel.

Episodes

Cancellation

The show was cancelled after one series, due to a lacklustre critical and audience response, as well as budgetary considerations towards other BBC series. Phelps revealed she had planned four more series.

References

External links