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Arabian Nights (TV miniseries)
Encyclopedia
Arabian Nights is a two-part 2000 American/British miniseries
, adapted by Peter Barnes
(his last film) from Sir Richard Francis Burton's translation of the medieval epic One Thousand and One Nights. Mili Avital
and Dougray Scott
stars as Scheherazade
and Shahryar respectively. Produced by Dyson Lovell
and directed by Steve Barron
, the serial was a made by Hallmark Entertainment and originally broadcast over two nights on 30 April and 1 May 2000 on BBC One
in the United Kingdom
and ABC
in the United States
.
The series consists of five stories from One Thousand and One Nights, which are framed
within a sixth, maintaining the traditional style of stories within stories
that is synonymous with the Nights. The series cast includes Alan Bates
, Rufus Sewell
, Andy Serkis
, James Frain
, John Leguizamo
(in a dual role), Jason Scott Lee, Vanessa-Mae
, Alexei Sayle
, Jim Carter, and James Callis
.
at the time of the Islamic Golden Age
, where Sultan Shahryar (Dougray Scott
) has gone mad after accidentally killing his wife during a failed coup d'état
, which she had planned with Shahryar's brother Schahzenan (James Frain
). In his madness, Shahryar believes that all women now want to kill him, but the law states that the Sultan must married again or the throne will be passed to his brother. Shahryar therefore orders Grand Vizier
Ja'Far (Jim Carter) to bring him a harem girl
to marry and then have executed
the next day.
In order to prevent this, the Grand Vizier
's clever daughter, Scheherazade
(Mili Avital
), decides to marry the Sultan herself. Scheherazade (a childhood friend of the Sultan who has secretly fallen in love with him) has a plan to prevent her execution and at the same time cure the Sultan of his madness. With tuition from a bazaar
storyteller
(Alan Bates
), Scheherazade tells the Sultan a story every night, stopping at dawn with a cliffhanger
and refusing to continue until dusk. Shahryar must therefore let Scheherazade live for another day in order to hear the rest of the story. Cunningly, Scheherazade has hidden a moral
within every story, to bring the Sultan out of his madness.
Meanwhile, Schahzenan (Shahryar's brother) hears about the Sultan's madness and that he is unable to execute Scheherazade. Perceiving this as weakness, Schahzenan leads his army to Baghdad
in an attempt to take the throne by force. However, by the time Schahzenan's army reaches the city, Scheherazade's plan has worked. As a result of her stories, Shahryar has overcome his madness and has fallen in love with Scheherazade. Using elements from the stories, Shahryar is able to defeat his brother's army. At the end of the battle, it is revealed that all that had been seen was a story itself, told by Scheherazade to her children. The series ends with Scheherazade promising to tell her children another story tomorrow night.
(Rufus Sewell
) is a poor peasant from Damascus
who finds a magical cave in which is the loot stolen by the Forty Thieves, a tribe of murderous bandits that have plagued the kingdom. Using the magic words "Open Sesame!", Ali enters the cave and takes the treasure. When Ali tells his brother Kasim
(Andy Serkis
) about the cave, Kasim demands his share and goes to the cave himself where he is discovered and killed by the leader of the Forty Thieves, Black Coda (Tchéky Karyo
).
Ali Baba finds Kasim's body hung-up by the Forty Thieves as a warning to others. With the help of his newly-hired servant, Morgiana (Amira Casar
), Ali takes down the body and gives Kasim a lavish funeral. This alerts Black Coda and the Forty Thieves to the fact that Kasim was not alone in taking their treasure.
Black Coda discovers that Ali Baba and Morgiana are living in a lubricious estate in Damascus
and devises a plan to kill all in the household. The Forty Thieves enter the city hidden in oil barrels which are placed outside Ali's estate where they wait for nightfall. Before they can strike, Morgiana discovers the barrels and rolls them down to the bottom of a hill where the dazed Forty Thieves are arrested by the city guards, although Black Coda escapes.
To celebrate their victory, Ali Baba hosts a feast. Morgiana performs an exotic dance for Ali Baba during which she stabs one of the guests, killing him. She removes the man's false beard, revealing him to be Black Coda.
) designed Morgiana's wedding attire and his wife, Safil (Jamila Massey
), from Constantinople
, were at Ali Baba's wedding.
Back in Constantinople, the couple have dinner with Bac-Bac (Alexei Sayle
), the Sultan's hunchback
ed-jester, during which Bac-Bac chokes on a fish bone and dies. Worried about their reputation, Faisal and Safil leave the body on the doorstep of a Jewish physician, Ezra Ben Ezra (Leon Lissek
).
Before Dr Ezra can take a look at Bac-Bac, he trips over him in the dark and they both fall down his doorway stairs. After the fall, Ezra finds the dead body and assumes that he accidentally killed him. Recognising Bac-Bac, they repeat the actions of Faisal and Safil by dropping the body down the chimney of their Chinese neighbour, Hi-Ching (Junix Inocian
). Hi-Ching mistakenly believes that he is about to be robbed and hits the body hard on his pressure points. Hi-Ching mistakenly believes that he killed Bac-Bac by hitting him so hard and (like the others) he fears for his welfare. So he carries the body to a dark alcove, where Englishman
Jerome Gribben (Roger Hammond
) is walking home in a drunken stupor. Bac-Bac's body falls onto Jerome, who believes he is being attacked. He repeatedly hits the body against a wall, and calls the nearby guards. The guards recognise Bac-Bac and arrest Jerome for murder.
Jerome is put on trial and sentenced to death. Unable to bear the guilt, Hi-Ching, Ezra, and Faisal all confess that they had killed the poor hunchback. In the middle of all their arguments, the Sultan (Tony Osoba
) comes and demands to know who the killed his jester. The Sultan realises Bac-Bac's death was an accident and frees Jerome, explaining that Bac-Bac would have been amused by the manner of his death.
(Jason Scott Lee), a Chinese
thief living in the caliphate of Samarkand. While fleeing authorities for pick-pocketing, he sees a carriage and blocks its path. The carriage windows open to reveal the Princess Zubaïda (Vanessa-Mae
). The two see each other and fall in love.
While escaping, Aladdin meets a mysterious traveller named Mustappa (Hugh Quarshie
), who claims to have been a friend of Aladdin's father and is willing to pay him much money to do a 'simple' task. Aladdin agrees and meets Mustappa at the entrance of the Cave of Wonders. Mustappa gives Aladdin a ring, and swears "by Hector's feathers", that Aladdin will not see his wedding day if he betrays Mustappa.
Aladdin enters the Cave and walks through a Terracotta Army
until he finds the lamp. He races back to the entrance, where Mustappa asks Aladdin to give him the lamp before he helps him out. Aladdin refuses, believing Mustappa will take the lamp and leave him in the cave. Mustappa, enraged, closes the cave's entrance and abandons Aladdin. In desperation, Aladdin rubs Mustappa's ring and summons the Genie of the Ring (John Leguizamo
) who reluctantly frees Aladdin from the cave.
Back home with his mother, Aladdin wonders why Mustappa would want a worthless old oil lamp. Rubbing it frees the Lamp Genie
(also John Leguizamo
) who can grant Aladdin's wishes. Aladdin and his mother wish for a fortune which they use to buy their way into the Royal Court
. Aladdin asks the Caliph for Princess Zubaïda's hand in marriage, but he is turned down as the Princess is betrothed to another.
Aladdin discovers that the Princess is in love with him and using the Lamp Genie, he is able to humiliate Zubaïda's betrothed, and marry the Princess himself. In Africa, Mustappa realises that Aladdin is alive and has married as his pet raven, Hector, losses all his feathers. Mustappa goes to Samarkand dressed as a merchant trading new lamps for old ones, prompting a servant in Aladdin's palace to give the magic lamp to the Mustappa. Once the lamp comes into Mustappa's possession, he wishes to undo all Aladdin's wealth. Using the Genie of the Ring, Aladdin challenges Mustappa to a fight to the death with their magic. Each Genie transforms into one beast after another, until the Ring Genie is trapped in a giant mousetrap. Although Mustappa appears to have won, Aladdin is still a thief and is able to pick-pocket
Mustappa, taking the Lamp and thus stealing his victory.
The story follows Amin, (Dougray Scott) a lonely drunkard beggar who meets the ruthless Sultan Harun Abrashild (a play on the real Caliph Harun al-Rashid
), played by James Frain. Abrashild kidnaps the unconscious Amin and dresses him as the Sultan. Abrashild then orders his servants to pretend Amin is the Sultan, as he watches the events unfold from secret chambers behind the palace walls. When Amin wakes, he at first thinks he has lost his mind, but soon begins to enjoy being Sultan. The Grand Vizier
and Commander of the army note that Amin has got more done one day than the real Sultan has in years. Overhearing this, Harun becomes angered and puts sleeping powder in Amin's drink. Abrashild then throws him back into the streets as a beggar. When Amin awakes, he is traumatised and insists he is the Sultan, prompting the city guards to put him in an insane asylum.
Abrashild decides to repeat the joke and again drugs Amin and returns him to the palace dressed as Sultan. When Amin wakes, he hears the snickering of Abrashild from inside one of the secret chambers, he draws a sword and inadvertently stabs Abrashild, believing he is a demon
. Seeing that Abrashild is dead, the Sultan's advisers decide they will tell everyone that the real Sultan has gone on a pilgrimage to Mecca
, and that Amin was chosen as the Sultan's successor, all the while continuing to tell Amin that he is the one and only Sultan Harun Abrashild.
At the end of the story, as his brother's army approaches Baghdad
, Sultan Shahryar realises he is in love with Scheherazade and has been cured of his madness, but Scheherazade feels Shahryar needs to hear one more story before he goes into battle.
, Prince Ali (Alexis Conran
), Prince Ahmed (James Callis
), and Prince Hussain (Hari Dhillon
). The three are each gifted fighters and fight each other over the smallest of matters. Both their parents believe that when the King dies, the sons will fight each other for control of the kingdom. Therefore, their father challenges each of his sons to bring him what they believe is the most precious object in the world, giving them one year to complete their quest.
Ali heads north to a brazen kingdom, and finds a powerful telescope. Ahmed travels east to a mountain monastery which possess a mystic apple (the Apple of Life), which when eaten can heal any wound or illness. The last brother, Hussain, travels west to the underground city of Petra
. He wanders through the underground market looking for the most precious thing in the world, eventually finding a flying carpet.
The journeys of the brothers take up the given year, and all three meet at the Traveller's Rest. Ali's telescope reveals that their father is on his deathbed. The brothers race back to Yemen on Hussain's carpet to save their father with Ahmed's apple of life.
Scheherazade explains that as a result of their adventures, when the brothers eventually succeed their father, they rule the kingdom together in peace and harmony.
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
, adapted by Peter Barnes
Peter Barnes
Peter Barnes was an English Olivier Award-winning playwright and screenwriter. His most famous work is the play The Ruling Class, which was made into a 1972 film for which Peter O'Toole received an Oscar nomination....
(his last film) from Sir Richard Francis Burton's translation of the medieval epic One Thousand and One Nights. Mili Avital
Mili Avital
Mili Avital is an Israeli actress. Avital built a successful stage and film career in Israel, winning the Israeli Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1992 and nominated for Best Actress in 1994.-Personal life:...
and Dougray Scott
Dougray Scott
-Early life:The son of Elma, a nurse, and Alan Scott, an actor and salesperson, Stephen Dougray Scott was born in Glenrothes, Fife and attended Auchmuty High School...
stars as Scheherazade
Scheherazade
Scheherazade , sometimes Scheherazadea, Persian transliteration Shahrazad or Shahrzād is a legendary Persian queen and the storyteller of One Thousand and One Nights.-Narration :...
and Shahryar respectively. Produced by Dyson Lovell
Dyson Lovell
Dyson Lovell is a film producer and actor born on August 28, 1940. He produced amongst others, the Franco Zeffirelli Hamlet, starring Mel Gibson , and Francis Ford Coppola's 1984 box-office flop The Cotton Club, starring Richard Gere and Diane Lane.Lovell has played supporting roles in such films...
and directed by Steve Barron
Steve Barron
Steven "Steve" Barron is a director and producer, best known for directing the films Coneheads , Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the innovative music videos for a-ha's "Take on Me" and Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean"....
, the serial was a made by Hallmark Entertainment and originally broadcast over two nights on 30 April and 1 May 2000 on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
The series consists of five stories from One Thousand and One Nights, which are framed
Frame story
A frame story is a literary technique that sometimes serves as a companion piece to a story within a story, whereby an introductory or main narrative is presented, at least in part, for the purpose of setting the stage either for a more emphasized second narrative or for a set of shorter stories...
within a sixth, maintaining the traditional style of stories within stories
Story within a story
A story within a story, also rendered story-within-a-story, is a literary device in which one narrative is presented during the action of another narrative. Mise en abyme is the French term for a similar literary device...
that is synonymous with the Nights. The series cast includes Alan Bates
Alan Bates
Sir Alan Arthur Bates CBE was an English actor, who came to prominence in the 1960s, a time of high creativity in British cinema, when he demonstrated his versatility in films ranging from the popular children’s story Whistle Down the Wind to the "kitchen sink" drama A Kind of Loving...
, Rufus Sewell
Rufus Sewell
Rufus Frederik Sewell is an English actor. In film, he has appeared in The Woodlanders, Dangerous Beauty, Dark City, A Knight's Tale, The Illusionist, Tristan and Isolde, and Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence. On television, he starred in the 2010 mini-series The Pillars of the Earth...
, Andy Serkis
Andy Serkis
Andrew Clement G. "Andy" Serkis is an English actor, director and author. He is popularly known for playing Gollum in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, for which he earned several award nominations, including the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Two Towers...
, James Frain
James Frain
James Dominic Frain is an English stage and screen actor. He is possibly best known for his role in the Showtime series The Tudors in which he appeared as Thomas Cromwell from 2007 to 2009, and for his role as vampire Franklin Mott in season three of the HBO drama True Blood, as well as his role...
, John Leguizamo
John Leguizamo
Jonathan Alberto "John" Leguizamo is an Colombian-American actor, producer, voice artist, and comedian.-Early life:...
(in a dual role), Jason Scott Lee, Vanessa-Mae
Vanessa-Mae
Vanessa-Mae Vanakorn Nicholson , known professionally as Vanessa-Mae , is an internationally known British violinist. Her music style is self-described as "violin techno-acoustic fusion", as several of her albums prominently feature the techno style...
, Alexei Sayle
Alexei Sayle
Alexei David Sayle is a British stand-up comedian, actor and author. He was a central part of the alternative comedy circuit in the early 1980s. He was voted the 18th greatest stand-up comic on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand-ups in 2007...
, Jim Carter, and James Callis
James Callis
James Callis is a British actor. He is best known for playing Dr. Gaius Baltar in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica miniseries and television series, and Bridget Jones' best friend in Bridget Jones's Diary and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason...
.
Frame story
The series starts in BaghdadBaghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
at the time of the Islamic Golden Age
Islamic Golden Age
During the Islamic Golden Age philosophers, scientists and engineers of the Islamic world contributed enormously to technology and culture, both by preserving earlier traditions and by adding their own inventions and innovations...
, where Sultan Shahryar (Dougray Scott
Dougray Scott
-Early life:The son of Elma, a nurse, and Alan Scott, an actor and salesperson, Stephen Dougray Scott was born in Glenrothes, Fife and attended Auchmuty High School...
) has gone mad after accidentally killing his wife during a failed coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
, which she had planned with Shahryar's brother Schahzenan (James Frain
James Frain
James Dominic Frain is an English stage and screen actor. He is possibly best known for his role in the Showtime series The Tudors in which he appeared as Thomas Cromwell from 2007 to 2009, and for his role as vampire Franklin Mott in season three of the HBO drama True Blood, as well as his role...
). In his madness, Shahryar believes that all women now want to kill him, but the law states that the Sultan must married again or the throne will be passed to his brother. Shahryar therefore orders Grand Vizier
Grand Vizier
Grand Vizier, in Turkish Vezir-i Azam or Sadr-ı Azam , deriving from the Arabic word vizier , was the greatest minister of the Sultan, with absolute power of attorney and, in principle, dismissable only by the Sultan himself...
Ja'Far (Jim Carter) to bring him a harem girl
Harem
Harem refers to the sphere of women in what is usually a polygynous household and their enclosed quarters which are forbidden to men...
to marry and then have executed
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
the next day.
In order to prevent this, the Grand Vizier
Grand Vizier
Grand Vizier, in Turkish Vezir-i Azam or Sadr-ı Azam , deriving from the Arabic word vizier , was the greatest minister of the Sultan, with absolute power of attorney and, in principle, dismissable only by the Sultan himself...
's clever daughter, Scheherazade
Scheherazade
Scheherazade , sometimes Scheherazadea, Persian transliteration Shahrazad or Shahrzād is a legendary Persian queen and the storyteller of One Thousand and One Nights.-Narration :...
(Mili Avital
Mili Avital
Mili Avital is an Israeli actress. Avital built a successful stage and film career in Israel, winning the Israeli Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1992 and nominated for Best Actress in 1994.-Personal life:...
), decides to marry the Sultan herself. Scheherazade (a childhood friend of the Sultan who has secretly fallen in love with him) has a plan to prevent her execution and at the same time cure the Sultan of his madness. With tuition from a bazaar
Bazaar
A bazaar , Cypriot Greek: pantopoula) is a permanent merchandising area, marketplace, or street of shops where goods and services are exchanged or sold. The term is sometimes also used to refer to the "network of merchants, bankers and craftsmen" who work that area...
storyteller
Storytelling
Storytelling is the conveying of events in words, images and sounds, often by improvisation or embellishment. Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation and in order to instill moral values...
(Alan Bates
Alan Bates
Sir Alan Arthur Bates CBE was an English actor, who came to prominence in the 1960s, a time of high creativity in British cinema, when he demonstrated his versatility in films ranging from the popular children’s story Whistle Down the Wind to the "kitchen sink" drama A Kind of Loving...
), Scheherazade tells the Sultan a story every night, stopping at dawn with a cliffhanger
Cliffhanger
A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma, or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction...
and refusing to continue until dusk. Shahryar must therefore let Scheherazade live for another day in order to hear the rest of the story. Cunningly, Scheherazade has hidden a moral
Moral
A moral is a message conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim...
within every story, to bring the Sultan out of his madness.
Meanwhile, Schahzenan (Shahryar's brother) hears about the Sultan's madness and that he is unable to execute Scheherazade. Perceiving this as weakness, Schahzenan leads his army to Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
in an attempt to take the throne by force. However, by the time Schahzenan's army reaches the city, Scheherazade's plan has worked. As a result of her stories, Shahryar has overcome his madness and has fallen in love with Scheherazade. Using elements from the stories, Shahryar is able to defeat his brother's army. At the end of the battle, it is revealed that all that had been seen was a story itself, told by Scheherazade to her children. The series ends with Scheherazade promising to tell her children another story tomorrow night.
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
The first story told by Scheherazade is that of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. Ali BabaAli Baba
Ali Baba is a fictional character from medieval Arabic literature. He is described in the adventure tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves...
(Rufus Sewell
Rufus Sewell
Rufus Frederik Sewell is an English actor. In film, he has appeared in The Woodlanders, Dangerous Beauty, Dark City, A Knight's Tale, The Illusionist, Tristan and Isolde, and Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence. On television, he starred in the 2010 mini-series The Pillars of the Earth...
) is a poor peasant from Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
who finds a magical cave in which is the loot stolen by the Forty Thieves, a tribe of murderous bandits that have plagued the kingdom. Using the magic words "Open Sesame!", Ali enters the cave and takes the treasure. When Ali tells his brother Kasim
Kasim
Kasim is the transliteration of two male given names; and .The latter name has a diacritic, in the strict transliteration, on the "I", which emphasises the long "I" sound in that name's pronunciation.Both names are also used as surnames....
(Andy Serkis
Andy Serkis
Andrew Clement G. "Andy" Serkis is an English actor, director and author. He is popularly known for playing Gollum in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, for which he earned several award nominations, including the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Two Towers...
) about the cave, Kasim demands his share and goes to the cave himself where he is discovered and killed by the leader of the Forty Thieves, Black Coda (Tchéky Karyo
Tchéky Karyo
-Early life:Karyo was born in Istanbul to a Greek mother and Sephardic-Jewish father and raised in Paris, France. He studied drama at the Cyrano Theatre and later became a member of the Daniel Sorano Company, playing many classical roles.-Career:...
).
Ali Baba finds Kasim's body hung-up by the Forty Thieves as a warning to others. With the help of his newly-hired servant, Morgiana (Amira Casar
Amira Casar
Amira Casar is a French actress who grew up in Ireland and who has appeared in 40 films between 1989 and 2009....
), Ali takes down the body and gives Kasim a lavish funeral. This alerts Black Coda and the Forty Thieves to the fact that Kasim was not alone in taking their treasure.
Black Coda discovers that Ali Baba and Morgiana are living in a lubricious estate in Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
and devises a plan to kill all in the household. The Forty Thieves enter the city hidden in oil barrels which are placed outside Ali's estate where they wait for nightfall. Before they can strike, Morgiana discovers the barrels and rolls them down to the bottom of a hill where the dazed Forty Thieves are arrested by the city guards, although Black Coda escapes.
To celebrate their victory, Ali Baba hosts a feast. Morgiana performs an exotic dance for Ali Baba during which she stabs one of the guests, killing him. She removes the man's false beard, revealing him to be Black Coda.
The Tale of the Poor Hunchback
To prevent Shahryar realising she's starting a complete new story, Scheherazade begins her next tale by following on from the last, explaining that Faisal (Stanley LeborStanley Lebor
Stanley Harvey Lebor is an English actor, best known for his role as Howard in the 1980s BBC TV series, Ever Decreasing Circles and the Mongon Doctor in Flash Gordon...
) designed Morgiana's wedding attire and his wife, Safil (Jamila Massey
Jamila Massey
Jamila Massey is an Indian actress and writer. Massey has had a long career on UK television and radio. She is possibly best known for playing Auntie Satya in the long running radio soap The Archers, Jamila Ranjha in Mind Your Language, and her role as Neelam Kapoor in EastEnders.-Early...
), from Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
, were at Ali Baba's wedding.
Back in Constantinople, the couple have dinner with Bac-Bac (Alexei Sayle
Alexei Sayle
Alexei David Sayle is a British stand-up comedian, actor and author. He was a central part of the alternative comedy circuit in the early 1980s. He was voted the 18th greatest stand-up comic on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand-ups in 2007...
), the Sultan's hunchback
Hunchback
Hunchback may refer to one of the following.*A derogatory term for a person who has severe kyphosis*The Hunchback of Notre Dame*Hunchback , an arcade and computer game from the 1980s*The Hunchback, a 1914 film featuring Lillian Gish...
ed-jester, during which Bac-Bac chokes on a fish bone and dies. Worried about their reputation, Faisal and Safil leave the body on the doorstep of a Jewish physician, Ezra Ben Ezra (Leon Lissek
Leon Lissek
Leon Lissek is an actor originated from Australia who primarily does work in England. He has appeared in over 80 films in his career, which started with Marat/Sade...
).
Before Dr Ezra can take a look at Bac-Bac, he trips over him in the dark and they both fall down his doorway stairs. After the fall, Ezra finds the dead body and assumes that he accidentally killed him. Recognising Bac-Bac, they repeat the actions of Faisal and Safil by dropping the body down the chimney of their Chinese neighbour, Hi-Ching (Junix Inocian
Junix Inocian
Junix Inocian is a Filipino international stage, television and movie actor who starred in various plays such as Miss Saigon, Fiddler on the Roof, and the movie version of the Swedish crime novel Tatuerad Torso.-Early life and career:Junix was born in Iligan City, in the Philippines on March 17,...
). Hi-Ching mistakenly believes that he is about to be robbed and hits the body hard on his pressure points. Hi-Ching mistakenly believes that he killed Bac-Bac by hitting him so hard and (like the others) he fears for his welfare. So he carries the body to a dark alcove, where Englishman
Kingdom of England
The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...
Jerome Gribben (Roger Hammond
Roger Hammond (actor)
Roger Hammond is an English character actor who has appeared in many films and television series.Hammond attended Cambridge University, and appeared extensively in their drama program, alongside actors such as Ian McKellen, Derek Jacobi, and John Wood. Following that, he attended the Royal Academy...
) is walking home in a drunken stupor. Bac-Bac's body falls onto Jerome, who believes he is being attacked. He repeatedly hits the body against a wall, and calls the nearby guards. The guards recognise Bac-Bac and arrest Jerome for murder.
Jerome is put on trial and sentenced to death. Unable to bear the guilt, Hi-Ching, Ezra, and Faisal all confess that they had killed the poor hunchback. In the middle of all their arguments, the Sultan (Tony Osoba
Tony Osoba
Tony Osoba is a Scottish actor best known for his role as Jim 'Jock' McClaren in the popular 70s British sitcom Porridge, and appeared in its sequel Going Straight. Osoba was the first black Scottish actor to appear on primetime television when he appeared in the series.His other roles include...
) comes and demands to know who the killed his jester. The Sultan realises Bac-Bac's death was an accident and frees Jerome, explaining that Bac-Bac would have been amused by the manner of his death.
Aladdin and the Magic Lamp
This story tells the classic tale of AladdinAladdin
Aladdin is a Middle Eastern folk tale. It is one of the tales in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights , and one of the most famous, although it was actually added to the collection by Antoine Galland ....
(Jason Scott Lee), a Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
thief living in the caliphate of Samarkand. While fleeing authorities for pick-pocketing, he sees a carriage and blocks its path. The carriage windows open to reveal the Princess Zubaïda (Vanessa-Mae
Vanessa-Mae
Vanessa-Mae Vanakorn Nicholson , known professionally as Vanessa-Mae , is an internationally known British violinist. Her music style is self-described as "violin techno-acoustic fusion", as several of her albums prominently feature the techno style...
). The two see each other and fall in love.
While escaping, Aladdin meets a mysterious traveller named Mustappa (Hugh Quarshie
Hugh Quarshie
- Early and Personal Life :Quarshie is of mixed Ghanaian, English and Dutch ancestry and was born in Accra, Ghana, to Emma Wilhelmina and Richard Quarshie, and emigrated with his family to the United Kingdom when he was aged three...
), who claims to have been a friend of Aladdin's father and is willing to pay him much money to do a 'simple' task. Aladdin agrees and meets Mustappa at the entrance of the Cave of Wonders. Mustappa gives Aladdin a ring, and swears "by Hector's feathers", that Aladdin will not see his wedding day if he betrays Mustappa.
Aladdin enters the Cave and walks through a Terracotta Army
Terracotta Army
The Terracotta Army or the "Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses", is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China...
until he finds the lamp. He races back to the entrance, where Mustappa asks Aladdin to give him the lamp before he helps him out. Aladdin refuses, believing Mustappa will take the lamp and leave him in the cave. Mustappa, enraged, closes the cave's entrance and abandons Aladdin. In desperation, Aladdin rubs Mustappa's ring and summons the Genie of the Ring (John Leguizamo
John Leguizamo
Jonathan Alberto "John" Leguizamo is an Colombian-American actor, producer, voice artist, and comedian.-Early life:...
) who reluctantly frees Aladdin from the cave.
Back home with his mother, Aladdin wonders why Mustappa would want a worthless old oil lamp. Rubbing it frees the Lamp Genie
Genie
Jinn or genies are supernatural creatures in Arab folklore and Islamic teachings that occupy a parallel world to that of mankind. Together, jinn, humans and angels make up the three sentient creations of Allah. Religious sources say barely anything about them; however, the Qur'an mentions that...
(also John Leguizamo
John Leguizamo
Jonathan Alberto "John" Leguizamo is an Colombian-American actor, producer, voice artist, and comedian.-Early life:...
) who can grant Aladdin's wishes. Aladdin and his mother wish for a fortune which they use to buy their way into the Royal Court
Royal court
Royal court, as distinguished from a court of law, may refer to:* The Royal Court , Timbaland's production company*Court , the household and entourage of a monarch or other ruler, the princely court...
. Aladdin asks the Caliph for Princess Zubaïda's hand in marriage, but he is turned down as the Princess is betrothed to another.
Aladdin discovers that the Princess is in love with him and using the Lamp Genie, he is able to humiliate Zubaïda's betrothed, and marry the Princess himself. In Africa, Mustappa realises that Aladdin is alive and has married as his pet raven, Hector, losses all his feathers. Mustappa goes to Samarkand dressed as a merchant trading new lamps for old ones, prompting a servant in Aladdin's palace to give the magic lamp to the Mustappa. Once the lamp comes into Mustappa's possession, he wishes to undo all Aladdin's wealth. Using the Genie of the Ring, Aladdin challenges Mustappa to a fight to the death with their magic. Each Genie transforms into one beast after another, until the Ring Genie is trapped in a giant mousetrap. Although Mustappa appears to have won, Aladdin is still a thief and is able to pick-pocket
Pickpocketing
Pickpocketing is a form of larceny that involves the stealing of money or other valuables from the person of a victim without their noticing the theft at the time. It requires considerable dexterity and a knack for misdirection...
Mustappa, taking the Lamp and thus stealing his victory.
The Sultan and the Beggar
At the beginning of the story, Scheherazade explains that her next story is about Amin the Beggar (who looks exactly like Shahryar) and Sultan Harun Abrashild (who looks exactly like Shahryar's brother).The story follows Amin, (Dougray Scott) a lonely drunkard beggar who meets the ruthless Sultan Harun Abrashild (a play on the real Caliph Harun al-Rashid
Harun al-Rashid
Hārūn al-Rashīd was the fifth Arab Abbasid Caliph in Iraq. He was born in Rey, Iran, close to modern Tehran. His birth date remains a point of discussion, though, as various sources give the dates from 763 to 766)....
), played by James Frain. Abrashild kidnaps the unconscious Amin and dresses him as the Sultan. Abrashild then orders his servants to pretend Amin is the Sultan, as he watches the events unfold from secret chambers behind the palace walls. When Amin wakes, he at first thinks he has lost his mind, but soon begins to enjoy being Sultan. The Grand Vizier
Grand Vizier
Grand Vizier, in Turkish Vezir-i Azam or Sadr-ı Azam , deriving from the Arabic word vizier , was the greatest minister of the Sultan, with absolute power of attorney and, in principle, dismissable only by the Sultan himself...
and Commander of the army note that Amin has got more done one day than the real Sultan has in years. Overhearing this, Harun becomes angered and puts sleeping powder in Amin's drink. Abrashild then throws him back into the streets as a beggar. When Amin awakes, he is traumatised and insists he is the Sultan, prompting the city guards to put him in an insane asylum.
Abrashild decides to repeat the joke and again drugs Amin and returns him to the palace dressed as Sultan. When Amin wakes, he hears the snickering of Abrashild from inside one of the secret chambers, he draws a sword and inadvertently stabs Abrashild, believing he is a demon
Demon
call - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...
. Seeing that Abrashild is dead, the Sultan's advisers decide they will tell everyone that the real Sultan has gone on a pilgrimage to Mecca
Hajj
The Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest pilgrimages in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so...
, and that Amin was chosen as the Sultan's successor, all the while continuing to tell Amin that he is the one and only Sultan Harun Abrashild.
At the end of the story, as his brother's army approaches Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
, Sultan Shahryar realises he is in love with Scheherazade and has been cured of his madness, but Scheherazade feels Shahryar needs to hear one more story before he goes into battle.
The Three Princes
The last story told by Scheherazade is about the sons of the King of YemenYemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
, Prince Ali (Alexis Conran
Alexis Conran
Alexis Conran is a British actor, writer and stage magician. He was born in Paris, France, and moved to Greece when he was a child.He is co-writer and star of the BBC hit series 'The Real Hustle' on BBC Three...
), Prince Ahmed (James Callis
James Callis
James Callis is a British actor. He is best known for playing Dr. Gaius Baltar in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica miniseries and television series, and Bridget Jones' best friend in Bridget Jones's Diary and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason...
), and Prince Hussain (Hari Dhillon
Hari Dhillon
Hari Dhillon is an American television, film and stage actor, best known for playing Mr Michael Spence in over 100 episodes of the British television medical drama series Holby City.-Background:...
). The three are each gifted fighters and fight each other over the smallest of matters. Both their parents believe that when the King dies, the sons will fight each other for control of the kingdom. Therefore, their father challenges each of his sons to bring him what they believe is the most precious object in the world, giving them one year to complete their quest.
Ali heads north to a brazen kingdom, and finds a powerful telescope. Ahmed travels east to a mountain monastery which possess a mystic apple (the Apple of Life), which when eaten can heal any wound or illness. The last brother, Hussain, travels west to the underground city of Petra
Petra
Petra is a historical and archaeological city in the Jordanian governorate of Ma'an that is famous for its rock cut architecture and water conduits system. Established sometime around the 6th century BC as the capital city of the Nabataeans, it is a symbol of Jordan as well as its most visited...
. He wanders through the underground market looking for the most precious thing in the world, eventually finding a flying carpet.
The journeys of the brothers take up the given year, and all three meet at the Traveller's Rest. Ali's telescope reveals that their father is on his deathbed. The brothers race back to Yemen on Hussain's carpet to save their father with Ahmed's apple of life.
Scheherazade explains that as a result of their adventures, when the brothers eventually succeed their father, they rule the kingdom together in peace and harmony.
Cast
- Mili AvitalMili AvitalMili Avital is an Israeli actress. Avital built a successful stage and film career in Israel, winning the Israeli Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1992 and nominated for Best Actress in 1994.-Personal life:...
as ScheherazadeScheherazadeScheherazade , sometimes Scheherazadea, Persian transliteration Shahrazad or Shahrzād is a legendary Persian queen and the storyteller of One Thousand and One Nights.-Narration :... - Dougray ScottDougray Scott-Early life:The son of Elma, a nurse, and Alan Scott, an actor and salesperson, Stephen Dougray Scott was born in Glenrothes, Fife and attended Auchmuty High School...
as Shahryar and Amin the Beggar - Alan BatesAlan BatesSir Alan Arthur Bates CBE was an English actor, who came to prominence in the 1960s, a time of high creativity in British cinema, when he demonstrated his versatility in films ranging from the popular children’s story Whistle Down the Wind to the "kitchen sink" drama A Kind of Loving...
as The Storyteller - James FrainJames FrainJames Dominic Frain is an English stage and screen actor. He is possibly best known for his role in the Showtime series The Tudors in which he appeared as Thomas Cromwell from 2007 to 2009, and for his role as vampire Franklin Mott in season three of the HBO drama True Blood, as well as his role...
as Schahzenan and Sultan Harun Abrashild - Peter GuinnessPeter Guinness (actor)Peter Guinness is a British film, television and theatre actor.-Career:He has appeared in over fifty television productions and over ten films...
as The Chief Executioner - Jason Scott Lee as AladdinAladdinAladdin is a Middle Eastern folk tale. It is one of the tales in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights , and one of the most famous, although it was actually added to the collection by Antoine Galland ....
- Pik-Sen LimPik-Sen LimPik-Sen Lim is a Chinese-British actress who has appeared on British television since the 1950s. She is best known for playing the character of Su-Lee, the Chinese Communist student in the British sitcom Mind Your Language ....
as Aladdin's MotherWidow TwankeyWidow Twankey is a female character in the pantomime Aladdin. The character is a pantomime dame, portrayed by a man; and is a comic foil to the principal boy, Aladdin – played by an actress.-History:... - John LeguizamoJohn LeguizamoJonathan Alberto "John" Leguizamo is an Colombian-American actor, producer, voice artist, and comedian.-Early life:...
as The Genie of the Lamp and The Genie of the Ring - Vanessa-MaeVanessa-MaeVanessa-Mae Vanakorn Nicholson , known professionally as Vanessa-Mae , is an internationally known British violinist. Her music style is self-described as "violin techno-acoustic fusion", as several of her albums prominently feature the techno style...
as Princess Zubaïda - Hugh QuarshieHugh Quarshie- Early and Personal Life :Quarshie is of mixed Ghanaian, English and Dutch ancestry and was born in Accra, Ghana, to Emma Wilhelmina and Richard Quarshie, and emigrated with his family to the United Kingdom when he was aged three...
as Mustappa - Jim Carter as Ja'Far
- Amira CasarAmira CasarAmira Casar is a French actress who grew up in Ireland and who has appeared in 40 films between 1989 and 2009....
as Morgiana - Rufus SewellRufus SewellRufus Frederik Sewell is an English actor. In film, he has appeared in The Woodlanders, Dangerous Beauty, Dark City, A Knight's Tale, The Illusionist, Tristan and Isolde, and Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence. On television, he starred in the 2010 mini-series The Pillars of the Earth...
as Ali BabaAli BabaAli Baba is a fictional character from medieval Arabic literature. He is described in the adventure tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves... - Tchéky KaryoTchéky Karyo-Early life:Karyo was born in Istanbul to a Greek mother and Sephardic-Jewish father and raised in Paris, France. He studied drama at the Cyrano Theatre and later became a member of the Daniel Sorano Company, playing many classical roles.-Career:...
as Black Coda - Andy SerkisAndy SerkisAndrew Clement G. "Andy" Serkis is an English actor, director and author. He is popularly known for playing Gollum in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, for which he earned several award nominations, including the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Two Towers...
as KasimKasimKasim is the transliteration of two male given names; and .The latter name has a diacritic, in the strict transliteration, on the "I", which emphasises the long "I" sound in that name's pronunciation.Both names are also used as surnames.... - Alexis ConranAlexis ConranAlexis Conran is a British actor, writer and stage magician. He was born in Paris, France, and moved to Greece when he was a child.He is co-writer and star of the BBC hit series 'The Real Hustle' on BBC Three...
as Prince Ali - James CallisJames CallisJames Callis is a British actor. He is best known for playing Dr. Gaius Baltar in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica miniseries and television series, and Bridget Jones' best friend in Bridget Jones's Diary and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason...
as Prince Ahmed - Hari DhillonHari DhillonHari Dhillon is an American television, film and stage actor, best known for playing Mr Michael Spence in over 100 episodes of the British television medical drama series Holby City.-Background:...
as Prince Hussain - Alexei SayleAlexei SayleAlexei David Sayle is a British stand-up comedian, actor and author. He was a central part of the alternative comedy circuit in the early 1980s. He was voted the 18th greatest stand-up comic on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand-ups in 2007...
as BacBac
Honours and awards
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Artios | Best Casting for TV Miniseries | rowspan=2 |
| Emmy | Outstanding Makeup for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special | ||
| Outstanding Art Direction for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special | rowspan=4 | ||
| Outstanding Costumes for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special | |||
| Outstanding Hairstyling for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special | |||
| Outstanding Miniseries |
External links
- Arabian Nights at RHI EntertainmentRHI EntertainmentRHI Entertainment , formerly known as Hallmark Entertainment, is an American producer of television movies and miniseries, founded in 1979 by Robert Halmi Jr. and Robert Halmi Sr. as Robert Halmi Incorporated....