This epic serial maps the intersection of private passion and public duty in Victorian high society.
The saga chronicles several decades in the lives of the aristocratic Palliser family. The central story follows the arranged marriage between the reserved, duty-bound politician Plantagenet Palliser (Philip Latham) and the vivacious, wealthy heiress Lady Glencora (Susan Hampshire). Their initially difficult union deepens into a devoted partnership as their personal lives and Plantagenet’s political career become increasingly intertwined. The narrative weaves their story together with numerous subplots involving figures like the feckless Phineas Finn, the conniving Lizzie Eustace, and the disgraced clergyman Mr. Crawley.
Conceived as the BBC’s answer to the global success of The Forsyte Saga, The Pallisers was a monumental undertaking. Simon Raven’s adaptation condenses Anthony Trollope’s six dense political novels into a coherent 26-part chronicle, skillfully balancing the public affairs of Parliament with the private dramas of the aristocracy. The serial’s success rests on this dual focus; it treats the intricacies of political maneuvering with the same weight as the slow blossoming of the central marriage. It assembled a vast ensemble of British character actors, but its most curious production footnote is a four-month broadcast interruption caused by a labour dispute, a real-world intrusion into its meticulously recreated Victorian world.
Broadcast: BBC Two, 26 Episodes, Saturdays, 19 January – 2 November 1974
Dramatised by: Simon Raven
Director: Hugh David, Ronald Wilson
Producer: Martin Lisemore
Main Cast: Philip Latham (Plantagenet Palliser), Susan Hampshire (Lady Glencora), Roland Culver (Duke of Omnium), Sarah Badel (Lizzie Eustace), Derek Jacobi (Lord Fawn), Penelope Keith (Mrs Hittaway), Anna Massey (Laura Kennedy), Jeremy Irons (Frank Tregear)
