''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. She is known for playing eccentric and enigmatic characters, often working with auteurs. Her accolades include an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards, and a Volpi Cup, in addit ...

Mark McGann Mark Anthony McGann (born 12 July 1961) is an English actor. Early life He attended the De La Salle Academy, Liverpool, De La Salle Grammar School, Liverpool. Mark's father Joe was a Royal Naval Commandos, Royal Naval Commando, who landed on ...

, and

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

based on

Percy Bysshe Shelley Percy Bysshe Shelley ( ; 4 August 1792 – 8 July 1822) was an English writer who is considered 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 durin ...

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

Channel Four Films Film4 Productions is a British film production company owned by Channel 4 Television Corporation. The company has been responsible for backing many films made in the UK. The company's first production was ''Walter'', directed by Stephen Frear ...

and shown on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

in the UK and on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

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 Francis (born 1964), best known as Geff Francis, is a British actor from England 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 '' Zastro ...

as Zastrozzi, an outlaw and a criminal *

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 and comedian. He worked as a vocal impressionist on the ITV sketch show '' Spitting Image'' (1984–1996) and as Lara Croft's butler Hillary in '' Lara Croft: ...

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 WNET (channel 13), branded on-air as Thirteen (stylized as THIRTEEN), is a primary PBS member television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area. Owned by The WNET Group (formerly known as the Educ ...

on the "Channel Crossings" program. In 1990,

Jeremy Isaacs Sir Jeremy Israel Isaacs (born 28 September 1932) is a Scottish television producer and executive, and an opera manager. Following a career at Granada Television, the BBC and Thames Television, Isaacs was the founding chief executive of Channe ...

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'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

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 British English-language television shows Television shows about murder Works by Percy Bysshe Shelley 1980s British romance television series