Kingdom (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Kingdom is a British television series produced by Parallel Film and Television Productions for the ITV
network. It was created by Simon Wheeler
and stars Stephen Fry
as Peter Kingdom, a Norfolk
solicitor
who is coping with family, colleagues, and the strange locals who come to him for legal assistance. The series also stars Hermione Norris
, Celia Imrie
, Karl Davies
, Phyllida Law
and Tony Slattery
.
The first series of six one-hour episodes was aired in 2007 and averaged six million viewers per week. Despite a mid-series ratings dip, the executive chairman of ITV praised the programme and ordered a second series, which was filmed in 2007 and broadcast in January and February 2008. Filming on the third series ran from July to September 2008 for broadcast from 7 June 2009.
Stephen Fry announced on his blog in October 2009 that ITV were cancelling the series, which was later confirmed by the channel.
. Each week there are further indications that he did not die, culminating in episode six when it is revealed that he had a relationship with a woman, and that she had become pregnant with his child after he had supposedly died. In the first series we are also introduced to Peter's half-sister, Beatrice, who slowly becomes an integral character in the series.
Simon returns in the second series and is charged with faking his own death. He is released from custody after Lyle uses Simon's own money to bail him, and when Simon reveals he was actually attempting suicide. Beatrice learns that she is pregnant, so she leaves Market Shipborough until the baby is born in the last episode of the series. Lyle threatens to leave Kingdom & Kingdom when his mentor Peter begins to neglect him, but he changes his mind when Peter makes him a partner. In the final episode, a torrential storm hits Market Shipborough, flooding much of the town. While searching for his brother, who drove off the previous night, Peter encounters something unseen by the audience, which is revealed to be Simon's dead body in Series 3.
Series 3 largely steps away from Simon as we are now aware that he has died. Instead, this series focuses more on Peter's life, Beatrice and her new baby (Petra), Lyle, and Gloria, the receptionist. Toward the end of the series Peter begins to suffer from small blackouts. He has some minor tests done to find out the cause of the problem. It is revealed in the last episode that Peter has Type 2 diabetes. When Peter asks the doctor whether he should tell Beatrice and Petra to get checked out, the doctor revealed that diabetes isn't the only thing they discovered. In the final scenes Peter reveals that he has found out that he has no blood relation to Beatrice or Simon, and that therefore "their" father was not in fact his father.
Thomas Fisher plays Ted, a local yokel who is the landlord of the local pub and a friend of Sidney Snell. Gerard Horan
plays DC Yelland, who is in charge of prosecuting the Simon Kingdom case but also sometimes appears on other matters. Both Ted and Yelland's roles are expanded in the second series. In the first series, Maryann Turner plays a recurring minor character referred to only as "Mrs Thing", whom Peter is constantly trying to avoid. Simon's pregnant partner, Honor O'Sullivan (played by Kelly Campbell), is introduced in the final episode of the first series. By the second series she has given birth to baby Daniel and is living with Beatrice and Peter, where she develops an attraction to Lyle. She leaves after Simon returns.
Guest appearances in the first series are made by Richard Wilson (as Peter's old university tutor in episode four), Robert Bathurst
(as a cross-dressing husband in episode five), Lynsey De Paul
as Shelia Larsen, who drowns in her own swimming pool, Joss Ackland
(as an Auschwitz survivor in episode six), and Rory Bremner
(as a vicar, also in episode six). Bremner, known more for satire than acting, has joked that he played the vicar "as" Michael Howard
and Rowan Williams
and that his character's name was "Jane", due to an error in the script. Wilson returned for the second series, which also includes roles by Lucy Benjamin
and Richard Briers
, and Diana Quick
. Local residents appear as background extras
and in crowd scenes. Guest stars confirmed for the third series include Pippa Haywood
, James and Oliver Phelps
, June Whitfield
, Peter Sallis
, Colin Baker
, Sandi Toksvig
, Jack Dee
, Sophie Winkleman
, Anna Massey
and Jaye Griffiths
.
The series is primarily a vehicle for Fry, and was his first television drama series for ITV since the conclusion of Jeeves and Wooster
in 1993. Most of the main cast had worked with Fry before: Slattery had been in Footlights
with Fry, and he and Law appeared with him in Peter's Friends
; Imrie appeared in Gormenghast though the two did not share any scenes. Already being acquainted allowed the cast to appear more relaxed in front of the camera. Norris had not made any appearances with the rest of the cast beyond a credit with Imrie in Hospital!, a one-off Channel 5 comedy. However she is married to Wheeler, and he had previously written for Wire in the Blood
, in which she formerly starred. She took the role as a change of pace from the "ice maiden" characters she often portrays.
Location filming is primarily based in Swaffham
. Filming of the first series began on 10 July 2006 and was scheduled for 12 weeks. Shooting also took place in nearby Hunstanton
, Holkham
, Thetford and Dereham
. Beach and harbour scenes were shot at Wells
, as well as the Lifeboat station being used for that of Market Shipborough
. Fry recommended Swaffham to the producers, citing market towns as "more revealing of what Britain is like than a city is." Locations used within Swaffham include Oakleigh House (as the offices of Kingdom and Kingdom) and the Greyhound pub (renamed "The Startled Duck"), amongst others. The producers noted that Oakleigh House was ideal for the offices as there was an "authenticity" of opening the door straight onto the market square, instead of a transition from studio to location footage.
First-series scenes featuring Fry driving an Alvis
TE 21
were placed in jeopardy when the actor was caught speeding in May 2006. His counsel successfully postponed the hearing until December, allowing filming to resume unaffected (Fry was eventually banned from driving for six months). The first two episodes were directed by Robin Sheppard, the third and fourth by Metin Hüseyin
and the final two by Sandy Johnson
. A making-of special was filmed for the ITV3
Behind the Scenes strand and was broadcast on 27 May 2007, immediately following the end of episode six on ITV.
Filming of the second series was scheduled in two blocks: the first—directed by Andrew Grieve
—ran from 2 July to 11 August and the second—directed by Edward Hall
—from 20 August to 29 September. Shooting was again based in Swaffham. Norris took a break from filming in August to give birth to her daughter, returning to the set to complete her scenes in September. Series 3 commenced filming in July 2008. Scenes were filmed on Holkham beach featuring the Blues and Royals
of the Household Cavalry, who have been based in nearby Watton
. During September, scenes set in Stockport
, Greater Manchester were filmed in Kings Lynn and Halifax
. Shooting concluded at the end of the month. Edward Hall returned to direct three episodes.
echoed this, calling the storyline a "run of the mill affair", but praised the locations and referred to the series as a whole as "nice". Following the broadcast of the first episode The Guardian
wrote that the series "slips down as smoothly as a pint of Adnams" and (with tongue in cheek) welcomed it as a change from "loutish" Michael Kitchen
in "relentlessly vulgar" fellow Sunday-night drama Foyle's War
. The Times
had a negative view, awarding the episode one star out of five and criticising Stephen Fry for "playing Stephen Fry". The casting of the other characters was also criticised, though the costuming was wryly praised.
The programme received some criticism in Norfolk
for its inaccurate depiction of local accents
. Local journalist and broadcaster Keith Skipper
told the Eastern Daily Press
: "If they are going to set these dramas in a specific location with locals and extras surely they should get the accent right otherwise it is self defeating." An ITV spokesman told the paper: "We hired a professional dialect coach to help the actors achieve their Norfolk accent. The Norfolk accent is different in one area of Norfolk to another. What we are trying to achieve is something that resembles a Norfolk accent that cannot be pinned down." However, he failed to identify any area of Norfolk in which the accent contains a Mummerset
"r".
ITV executive chairman Michael Grade
was pleased with the series, describing it at a conference in June 2007 as having "done well for [ITV]" in the prestigious 9 p.m. slot.
Following Simon's reappearance in the second series, a writer on The Herald
expressed disappointment that the air of mystery had gone from the programme; "As the sage and saintly Peter, Stephen Fry no longer has any great detective-style fraternal conundrum to unravel, or agonise over." The fifth episode of Series 2 won the 9 p.m. slot with 5.4 million viewers and a 22% audience share, beating the BAFTA
coverage on BBC One. The series has been compared to Doc Martin
, another ITV series featuring a professional working in a rural town.
The ratings for the first episode of Series 3 were affected by a scheduling clash with the finale of The Apprentice on BBC One; the episode had 4.95 million viewers and a 19.1% audience share.
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International distribution rights were bought by Portman Film and Television, which sold the series to 14 international networks by February 2007. Seven regional European Hallmark Channel
s broadcast it, with other showings on NRK in Norway
, RÚV
in Iceland
, YLE in Finland
, Rai Tre
in Italy and één
in Flanders
. The Australian rights were picked up by the Seven Network
, although the ABC aired seasons 1 and 2 in 2011, with TVNZ buying it for New Zealand. The programme aired in the United States on some PBS
affiliates in early 2008. A wider syndication deal was struck with American Public Television
later that year for the first two series to be available to all affiliates, and other public stations; the third season begins distribution on 1 December 2009.In Canada, the first and second series are being broadcast this year, (April-June, 2010), on the Vision TV network. The third series premiered on the Flemish channel één on 10 April 2009.
and The Sunday Telegraph between 1 and 7 March 2008 and was also generally released from the 15th of June 2009.
, as part of Hulu's partnership with ITV.
All series of Kingdom are also available in the UK on the internet TV service SeeSaw
which launched on 17 February 2010
Related websites
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
network. It was created by Simon Wheeler
Simon Wheeler
Simon Wheeler is a British screenwriter and television producer who created the ITV1 drama Kingdom. He has also written for Wire in the Blood, a series that formerly starred his future wife Hermione Norris. Norris and Wheeler have two children together, Wilf and Hero .-External links:...
and stars Stephen Fry
Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
as Peter Kingdom, a Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
who is coping with family, colleagues, and the strange locals who come to him for legal assistance. The series also stars Hermione Norris
Hermione Norris
Hermione Norris is an English actress.Norris 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 Karen Marsden in the comedy drama television series Cold Feet...
, Celia Imrie
Celia Imrie
Celia Diana Savile Imrie is an English actress. In a career starting in the early 1970s, Imrie has played Marianne Bellshade in Bergerac, Philippa Moorcroft in Dinnerladies, Miss Babs in Acorn Antiques, Diana Neal in After You've Gone and Gloria Millington in Kingdom...
, Karl Davies
Karl Davies
Karl Davies is an English actor, who portrayed Lyle Anderson in the TV series Kingdom. Previously he had portrayed Robert Sugden in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale.- Biography :...
, Phyllida Law
Phyllida Law
-Personal life:Law was born in Glasgow, the daughter of William and Megsie Law, who divorced after World War II. She was married to Eric Thompson from 1957 until his death in 1982. Their two children Emma and Sophie Thompson are both actresses...
and Tony Slattery
Tony Slattery
Anthony Declan James "Tony" Slattery is an English actor and comedian who has appeared on British television regularly since the mid 1980s, most notably as a regular on the Channel 4 improvisation show Whose Line Is It Anyway? As a film actor, both comedic and serious, his credits include The...
.
The first series of six one-hour episodes was aired in 2007 and averaged six million viewers per week. Despite a mid-series ratings dip, the executive chairman of ITV praised the programme and ordered a second series, which was filmed in 2007 and broadcast in January and February 2008. Filming on the third series ran from July to September 2008 for broadcast from 7 June 2009.
Stephen Fry announced on his blog in October 2009 that ITV were cancelling the series, which was later confirmed by the channel.
Series synopses
The series follows Peter Kingdom, (Stephen Fry) a small-town solicitor whose work revolves around cases brought by the eclectic and eccentric populace of Market Shipborough. The series retains a largely episodic format, where self-contained plots play out before the hour concludes, though a continuing storyline concerns the mysterious disappearance of Simon Kingdom, Peter's brother. The first episode reveals that he vanished at sea six months previously and that everybody who knew him (including Peter) assumed that he committed suicideSuicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
. Each week there are further indications that he did not die, culminating in episode six when it is revealed that he had a relationship with a woman, and that she had become pregnant with his child after he had supposedly died. In the first series we are also introduced to Peter's half-sister, Beatrice, who slowly becomes an integral character in the series.
Simon returns in the second series and is charged with faking his own death. He is released from custody after Lyle uses Simon's own money to bail him, and when Simon reveals he was actually attempting suicide. Beatrice learns that she is pregnant, so she leaves Market Shipborough until the baby is born in the last episode of the series. Lyle threatens to leave Kingdom & Kingdom when his mentor Peter begins to neglect him, but he changes his mind when Peter makes him a partner. In the final episode, a torrential storm hits Market Shipborough, flooding much of the town. While searching for his brother, who drove off the previous night, Peter encounters something unseen by the audience, which is revealed to be Simon's dead body in Series 3.
Series 3 largely steps away from Simon as we are now aware that he has died. Instead, this series focuses more on Peter's life, Beatrice and her new baby (Petra), Lyle, and Gloria, the receptionist. Toward the end of the series Peter begins to suffer from small blackouts. He has some minor tests done to find out the cause of the problem. It is revealed in the last episode that Peter has Type 2 diabetes. When Peter asks the doctor whether he should tell Beatrice and Petra to get checked out, the doctor revealed that diabetes isn't the only thing they discovered. In the final scenes Peter reveals that he has found out that he has no blood relation to Beatrice or Simon, and that therefore "their" father was not in fact his father.
Characters
The characters are described by Wheeler as "three families"; Peter's relations, his colleagues, and the populace of Market Shipborough.- Peter Kingdom (played by Stephen FryStephen FryStephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
) is Cambridge graduated lawyer and one half of Kingdom & Kingdom, a practice he ran with his brother Simon, who disappeared six months before the series began. Peter is respected and regarded as compassionate by the local community. Fry describes him as "kind and empathetic", "on the side of the ordinary people" and as being "lonely and isolated" and not revealing his true emotions. Phyllida Law describes Peter as "into the community like one of those old French village priests". - Beatrice Kingdom (played by Hermione NorrisHermione NorrisHermione Norris is an English actress.Norris 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 Karen Marsden in the comedy drama television series Cold Feet...
) is Peter's half sister, who arrives in the first episode after leaving rehabilitation. She is described by Wheeler as intended to be the "ultimate annoying little sister". By series two, she is successfully controlling her mental illness with medication and has become more responsible and reliable. Norris's second pregnancy (with her daughter, Hero) was worked into the series storyline; Beatrice is portrayed as promiscuous in the first series, and takes several pregnancy tests in the second series, which all come up positive. Beatrice goes into labour in episode five of the second series, and asks Simon to be present at the birth. The identity of Petra's father is initially not known, and Simon tells Peter he "will totally flip" when he finds out. It is later revealed her father is a local philandering judge. Petra is played by twin girls in the third series. Their mother answered a casting call for young twins in a local newspaper. - Lyle Anderson (played by Karl DaviesKarl DaviesKarl Davies is an English actor, who portrayed Lyle Anderson in the TV series Kingdom. Previously he had portrayed Robert Sugden in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale.- Biography :...
) is a trainee solicitor at Kingdom & Kingdom during the first series. At the end of the second series, he qualifies, and is offered and accepts a partnership in the practice. Lyle is a somewhat comic character often having bad luck, whether he misses out on a potential relationship or gets hit by a golf ball. The writers created a running joke for the character, where he gets wet in almost every episode, from falling in swimming pools to landing in dykes. - Gloria Millington (played by Celia ImrieCelia ImrieCelia Diana Savile Imrie is an English actress. In a career starting in the early 1970s, Imrie has played Marianne Bellshade in Bergerac, Philippa Moorcroft in Dinnerladies, Miss Babs in Acorn Antiques, Diana Neal in After You've Gone and Gloria Millington in Kingdom...
) is a legal secretary who is recovering from the death of her husband a year before the first series. She has a young son (played by Angus Imrie, the actress's son) and is "the sister he (Peter) deserved" but never had. Gloria is antagonised by Beatrice during the first series, but the two become friends after a day out together. - Sidney Snell (played by Tony SlatteryTony SlatteryAnthony Declan James "Tony" Slattery is an English actor and comedian who has appeared on British television regularly since the mid 1980s, most notably as a regular on the Channel 4 improvisation show Whose Line Is It Anyway? As a film actor, both comedic and serious, his credits include The...
) is a smelly local and a frequent client of Peter who often finds ways to sue the local council. Slattery described Snell as an "everyman anti-hero", with Wheeler calling him an "unlikely guardian of Market Shipborough" on account of his numerous attempts to stop building work. Snell develops a close friendship with the recently-widowed Gloria in the first series. To emphasise his unwashed state, the wardrobe department rotated Snell's costume only once in the first series. - Aunt Auriel (played by Phyllida LawPhyllida Law-Personal life:Law was born in Glasgow, the daughter of William and Megsie Law, who divorced after World War II. She was married to Eric Thompson from 1957 until his death in 1982. Their two children Emma and Sophie Thompson are both actresses...
) is Peter's aunt and confidante. She lives in a retirement home on a large country estate. - Nigel Pearson (played by John Thomson) is introduced in the second series as the captain of Market Shipborough's cricket team. Peter investigates Nigel after discovering he has not honoured sponsorship contracts made with several local businesses. Nigel confides in Peter that his marriage is breaking down - his wife (played by Rachel Fielding) is having an affair with Simon, and he returns the money owed. Nigel returns as a regular cast member in the third series, now working as a relationship counsellor.
- Simon Kingdom (played by Dominic MafhamDominic MafhamDominic Mafham is an English actor. He was born on 11 March 1968.He trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.Dominic began his career at The Royal Shakespeare Company in 1990. He was with the RSC for four years....
) was an unseen character (with the exception of some photographs) in the first series, with the final episode revealing that he had fled to Dublin, apparently to escape large debts. In the second series he returns to Market Shipborough and is charged with faking his own death. At the end of the second series he disappears after fleeing from a mafia-type gang during a storm, and it is revealed at the start of series three that he really is dead, the opening scene showing Peter, Beatrice and Auriel standing at his grave.
Thomas Fisher plays Ted, a local yokel who is the landlord of the local pub and a friend of Sidney Snell. Gerard Horan
Gerard Horan
Gerard Horan is an English actor. Born in Stockport, Cheshire, Horan has appeared in many of Kenneth Branagh's Shakespeare films, most recently as Denis in the 2006 As You Like It. He has worked extensively in theatre, film and television....
plays DC Yelland, who is in charge of prosecuting the Simon Kingdom case but also sometimes appears on other matters. Both Ted and Yelland's roles are expanded in the second series. In the first series, Maryann Turner plays a recurring minor character referred to only as "Mrs Thing", whom Peter is constantly trying to avoid. Simon's pregnant partner, Honor O'Sullivan (played by Kelly Campbell), is introduced in the final episode of the first series. By the second series she has given birth to baby Daniel and is living with Beatrice and Peter, where she develops an attraction to Lyle. She leaves after Simon returns.
Guest appearances in the first series are made by Richard Wilson (as Peter's old university tutor in episode four), Robert Bathurst
Robert Bathurst
Robert Guy Bathurst is an English actor. Bathurst was born in the Gold Coast in 1957, where his father was working as a management consultant. His family moved to Dublin, Ireland, in 1959 and Bathurst was enrolled at an Anglican boarding school...
(as a cross-dressing husband in episode five), Lynsey De Paul
Lynsey De Paul
Lynsey de Paul is an English singer-songwriter. Allmusic journalist, Craig Harris stated, "one of the first successful female singer-songwriters in England, de Paul has had an illustrious career".-Early life:De Paul was born to Meta and Herbert Rubin, a property developer...
as Shelia Larsen, who drowns in her own swimming pool, Joss Ackland
Joss Ackland
Sidney Edmond Jocelyn Ackland CBE , known as Joss Ackland, is an English actor who has appeared in more than 130 films and numerous television roles.-Early life:...
(as an Auschwitz survivor in episode six), and Rory Bremner
Rory Bremner
Roderick "Rory" Keith Ogilvy Bremner, FKC is a Scottish impressionist, playwright and comedian, noted for his work in political satire...
(as a vicar, also in episode six). Bremner, known more for satire than acting, has joked that he played the vicar "as" Michael Howard
Michael Howard
Michael Howard, Baron Howard of Lympne, CH, QC, PC is a British politician, who served as the Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from November 2003 to December 2005...
and Rowan Williams
Rowan Williams
Rowan Douglas Williams FRSL, FBA, FLSW is an Anglican bishop, poet and theologian. He is the 104th and current Archbishop of Canterbury, Metropolitan of the Province of Canterbury and Primate of All England, offices he has held since early 2003.Williams was previously Bishop of Monmouth and...
and that his character's name was "Jane", due to an error in the script. Wilson returned for the second series, which also includes roles by Lucy Benjamin
Lucy Benjamin
-Career:Born Lucy Jane Baker in Reading, Berkshire, England, she took the stage name of Benjamin after her brother. Benjamin trained at the Redroofs Theatre School in Maidenhead. Her first acting role was as a child actor in Doctor Who in 1983 playing a young version of the character Nyssa...
and Richard Briers
Richard Briers
Richard David Briers, CBE is an English actor whose career has encompassed theatre, television, film and radio.He first came to prominence as George Starling in Marriage Lines in the 1960s, but it was in the following decade when he played Tom Good in the BBC sitcom The Good Life that he became a...
, and Diana Quick
Diana Quick
-Life:Quick was born in London, England. She grew up in Dartford, Kent, the third of a dentist's four children. She was educated at Dartford Grammar School for Girls, Kent. She was greatly aided by her English teacher, Miss Davis, who encouraged her to pursue acting...
. Local residents appear as background extras
Extra (actor)
A background actor or extra is a performer in a film, television show, stage, musical, opera or ballet production, who appears in a nonspeaking, nonsinging or nondancing capacity, usually in the background...
and in crowd scenes. Guest stars confirmed for the third series include Pippa Haywood
Pippa Haywood
Philippa Haywood is an English actress who trained at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.Famous for playing the much-put-upon Helen Brittas in the BBC One comedy series The Brittas Empire, Haywood has an extensive television career which includes Julie Chadwick in the BBC Two comedy Fear, Stress &...
, James and Oliver Phelps
James and Oliver Phelps
James Andrew Eric Phelps and Oliver Martyn John Phelps are identical twin English actors, best known for playing Fred and George Weasley, respectively, in the Harry Potter film series.-Early life:...
, June Whitfield
June Whitfield
June Rosemary Whitfield, CBE is an English actress, well known in the United Kingdom since the 1950s for roles in radio and television comedy series....
, Peter Sallis
Peter Sallis
Peter Sallis, OBE is an English actor and entertainer, well-known for his work on British television. Although he was born and brought up in London, his two most notable roles require him to adopt the accents and mannerisms of a Northerner.Sallis is best known for his role as the main character...
, Colin Baker
Colin Baker
Colin Baker is a British actor who is known for playing Paul Merroney in The Brothers from 1974 to 1976 and as the sixth incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who, from 1984 to 1986.- Background:Colin Baker was born in London, but moved north to...
, Sandi Toksvig
Sandi Toksvig
Sandra Brigitte “Sandi” Toksvig is a Danish comedian, author and presenter on British radio and television.-Career:...
, Jack Dee
Jack Dee
James Andrew Innes "Jack" Dee is an English stand-up comedian, actor and writer known for his sardonic, curmudgeonly, and deadpan style.-Early life:...
, Sophie Winkleman
Sophie Winkleman
Sophie Lara Winkleman is an English actress who has worked extensively in television, film and stage. On 14 February 2009, she became engaged to Lord Frederick Windsor, the son of Prince Michael and Princess Michael of Kent. They married in Hampton Court on 12 September 2009...
, Anna Massey
Anna Massey
Anna Raymond Massey, CBE was an English actress. She won a BAFTA Award for the role of Edith Hope in the 1986 TV adaptation of Anita Brookner’s novel Hotel du Lac.-Early life:...
and Jaye Griffiths
Jaye Griffiths
Jaye Griffiths is a British stage and television actress.Griffiths trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and has appeared in many television dramas, including a starring role in Bugs, which ran for four series...
.
Production
Wheeler spent two years developing the idea for the series before filming began in 2006 and proposed the Peter character as "helping people more than doing the law". The series was originally to be based around a probate solicitor, with the title Where There's a Will. Stephen Fry disapproved of the title and raised the point that it would be difficult to produce six scripts featuring his character dealing with probate issues. A series of six episodes was announced in June 2006.The series is primarily a vehicle for Fry, and was his first television drama series for ITV since the conclusion of Jeeves and Wooster
Jeeves and Wooster
-External links:*—An episode guide to the series, including information about which episodes were adapted from which Wodehouse stories.*—Episode guides, screenshots and quotes from the four series....
in 1993. Most of the main cast had worked with Fry before: Slattery had been in Footlights
Footlights
Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club, commonly referred to simply as the Footlights, is an amateur theatrical club in Cambridge, England, founded in 1883 and run by the students of Cambridge University....
with Fry, and he and Law appeared with him in Peter's Friends
Peter's Friends
Peter's Friends is a 1992 British comedy-drama film written by Rita Rudner and her husband Martin Bergman, and directed and produced by Kenneth Branagh....
; Imrie appeared in Gormenghast though the two did not share any scenes. Already being acquainted allowed the cast to appear more relaxed in front of the camera. Norris had not made any appearances with the rest of the cast beyond a credit with Imrie in Hospital!, a one-off Channel 5 comedy. However she is married to Wheeler, and he had previously written for Wire in the Blood
Wire in the Blood
Wire in the Blood was a British crime drama television series, devised and produced by Coastal Productions for the ITV network that ran from 2002 to 2009. The series is based on characters created by Val McDermid; a university clinical psychologist, Dr Anthony "Tony" Valentine Hill , is teamed with...
, in which she formerly starred. She took the role as a change of pace from the "ice maiden" characters she often portrays.
Location filming is primarily based in Swaffham
Swaffham
Swaffham is a market town and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The town is situated east of King's Lynn and west of Norwich.The civil parish has an area of and in the 2001 census had a population of 6,935 in 3,130 households...
. Filming of the first series began on 10 July 2006 and was scheduled for 12 weeks. Shooting also took place in nearby Hunstanton
Hunstanton
Hunstanton, often pronounced by locals as and known colloquially as 'Sunny Hunny', is a seaside town in Norfolk, England, facing The Wash....
, Holkham
Holkham
Holkham is a village and civil parish in the north-west of the county of Norfolk, England. Besides the small village, the parish includes the major stately home and estate of Holkham Hall, and an attractive beach at Holkham Gap...
, Thetford and Dereham
Dereham
Dereham, also known as East Dereham, is a town and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the A47 road, some 15 miles west of the city of Norwich and 25 miles east of King's Lynn. The civil parish has an area of and in the 2001 census had a population of...
. Beach and harbour scenes were shot at Wells
Wells-next-the-Sea
Wells-next-the-Sea, known locally simply as Wells, is a town, civil parish and seaport situated on the North Norfolk coast in England.The civil parish has an area of and in the 2001 census had a population of 2,451 in 1,205 households...
, as well as the Lifeboat station being used for that of Market Shipborough
Market Shipborough
Market Shipborough is a fictional town and a civil parish set in the English county of Norfolk that is the central location for the ITV series Kingdom...
. Fry recommended Swaffham to the producers, citing market towns as "more revealing of what Britain is like than a city is." Locations used within Swaffham include Oakleigh House (as the offices of Kingdom and Kingdom) and the Greyhound pub (renamed "The Startled Duck"), amongst others. The producers noted that Oakleigh House was ideal for the offices as there was an "authenticity" of opening the door straight onto the market square, instead of a transition from studio to location footage.
First-series scenes featuring Fry driving an Alvis
Alvis Cars
Alvis Car and Engineering Company Ltd was a British manufacturing company that existed in Coventry, England from 19191967. In addition to automobiles designed for the civilian market, the company also produced racing cars, aircraft engines, armoured cars and other armoured fighting vehicles, the...
TE 21
Alvis TE 21
The Alvis TE21, also known as the Series III, is an automobile produced by English manufacturer Alvis between 1963 and 1966. It was an updated version of the 1958 TD21.-Product description:...
were placed in jeopardy when the actor was caught speeding in May 2006. His counsel successfully postponed the hearing until December, allowing filming to resume unaffected (Fry was eventually banned from driving for six months). The first two episodes were directed by Robin Sheppard, the third and fourth by Metin Hüseyin
Metin Hüseyin
Metin Hüseyin is a British television and film director.-Biography:His debut film, Tight Trousers, was nominated for a BAFTA Film Award for Best Short Film in 1989, and in 1998 he received an RTS award and a British Academy Television Award nomination for Common as Muck and The History of a...
and the final two by Sandy Johnson
Sandy Johnson (director)
Sandy Johnson is a British director who has directed episodes of The Comic Strip Presents, Inspector Morse, A Touch of Frost, The Ruth Rendell Mysteries, Jonathan Creek and Auf Wiedersehen, Pet. His first full length film was Coast to Coast written by Stan Hey and starring John Shea, Lenny Henry...
. A making-of special was filmed for the ITV3
ITV3
ITV3 is an entertainment television channel in the United Kingdom that is owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. The channel was launched on 1 November 2004. ITV3 is the second largest UK multi-channel, second only to ITV2.-History:...
Behind the Scenes strand and was broadcast on 27 May 2007, immediately following the end of episode six on ITV.
Filming of the second series was scheduled in two blocks: the first—directed by Andrew Grieve
Andrew Grieve
Andrew Grieve is a Welsh television and film director. Grieve's credits include episodes of Warship and Wire in the Blood. On the Black Hill, the screenplay of which he also wrote, won the Golden Shell at the San Sebastian Film Festival in 1988. He has also directed episodes of Agatha Christie's...
—ran from 2 July to 11 August and the second—directed by Edward Hall
Edward Hall (director)
Edward Hall is an English theatre director and an associate director at The National Theatre. Hall is known for directing Rose Rage, a stage adaptation of Shakespeare's three Henry VI plays. He also runs an all-male Shakespeare company, Propeller...
—from 20 August to 29 September. Shooting was again based in Swaffham. Norris took a break from filming in August to give birth to her daughter, returning to the set to complete her scenes in September. Series 3 commenced filming in July 2008. Scenes were filmed on Holkham beach featuring the Blues and Royals
Blues and Royals
The Blues and Royals is a cavalry regiment of the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry. The Colonel-in-Chief is Her Majesty The Queen and the Colonel is HRH The Princess Royal...
of the Household Cavalry, who have been based in nearby Watton
Watton, Norfolk
Watton is a market town in the district of Breckland within the English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the crossroads of the A1075 Dereham-Thetford road and the B1108 Brandon-Norwich Road, about west of Norwich....
. During September, scenes set in Stockport
Stockport
Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on elevated ground southeast of Manchester city centre, at the point where the rivers Goyt and Tame join and create the River Mersey. Stockport is the largest settlement in the metropolitan borough of the same name...
, Greater Manchester were filmed in Kings Lynn and Halifax
Halifax, West Yorkshire
Halifax is a minster town, within the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. It has an urban area population of 82,056 in the 2001 Census. It is well-known as a centre of England's woollen manufacture from the 15th century onward, originally dealing through the Halifax Piece...
. Shooting concluded at the end of the month. Edward Hall returned to direct three episodes.
Reception
In a preview, Radio Times described it as "Sunday night television at its cosiest", though called the plot of episode one "feeble". Comments by The StageThe Stage
The Stage is a weekly British newspaper founded in 1880, available nationally and published on Thursdays. Covering all areas of the entertainment industry but focused primarily on theatre, it contains news, reviews, opinion, features and other items of interest, mainly to those who work within the...
echoed this, calling the storyline a "run of the mill affair", but praised the locations and referred to the series as a whole as "nice". Following the broadcast of the first episode The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
wrote that the series "slips down as smoothly as a pint of Adnams" and (with tongue in cheek) welcomed it as a change from "loutish" Michael Kitchen
Michael Kitchen
Michael Kitchen is an English actor and television producer, best known for his starring role as DCS Foyle in the British TV series Foyle's War.-Early life:...
in "relentlessly vulgar" fellow Sunday-night drama Foyle's War
Foyle's War
Foyle's War is a British detective drama television series set during World War II, created by screenwriter and author Anthony Horowitz, and was commissioned by ITV after the long-running series Inspector Morse came to an end in 2000. It has aired on ITV since 2002...
. The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
had a negative view, awarding the episode one star out of five and criticising Stephen Fry for "playing Stephen Fry". The casting of the other characters was also criticised, though the costuming was wryly praised.
The programme received some criticism in Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
for its inaccurate depiction of local accents
Norfolk dialect
The Norfolk dialect, also known as Broad Norfolk, is a dialect that was once, and to a great extent, still is spoken by those living in the county of Norfolk in England...
. Local journalist and broadcaster Keith Skipper
Keith Skipper
Keith Skipper is a journalist who writes for the Eastern Daily Press. He is also an author and formerly a broadcaster with BBC Radio Norfolk. His most recent books include: The Bumper Book of Norfolk Squit and Confessions of a Norfolk Newshound....
told the Eastern Daily Press
Eastern Daily Press
The Eastern Daily Press, commonly referred to as the EDP, is a regional newspaper covering Norfolk, and northern parts of Suffolk and eastern Cambridgeshire, and is published daily in Norwich, UK....
: "If they are going to set these dramas in a specific location with locals and extras surely they should get the accent right otherwise it is self defeating." An ITV spokesman told the paper: "We hired a professional dialect coach to help the actors achieve their Norfolk accent. The Norfolk accent is different in one area of Norfolk to another. What we are trying to achieve is something that resembles a Norfolk accent that cannot be pinned down." However, he failed to identify any area of Norfolk in which the accent contains a Mummerset
Mummerset
Mummerset refers to a fictional rustic English county, and more commonly, the English dialect supposedly spoken there. Mummerset is used by actors to represent a stereotypical English West Country accent while not being specific to any actual county....
"r".
ITV executive chairman Michael Grade
Michael Grade
Michael Ian Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth CBE is a British broadcast executive and businessman. He was BBC chairman from 2004 to 2006 and executive chairman of ITV plc from 2007 to 2009.-Early life:...
was pleased with the series, describing it at a conference in June 2007 as having "done well for [ITV]" in the prestigious 9 p.m. slot.
Following Simon's reappearance in the second series, a writer on The Herald
The Herald (Glasgow)
The Herald is a broadsheet newspaper published Monday to Saturday in Glasgow, and available throughout Scotland. As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 47,226, giving it a lead over Scotland's other 'quality' national daily, The Scotsman, published in Edinburgh.The 1889 to 1906 editions...
expressed disappointment that the air of mystery had gone from the programme; "As the sage and saintly Peter, Stephen Fry no longer has any great detective-style fraternal conundrum to unravel, or agonise over." The fifth episode of Series 2 won the 9 p.m. slot with 5.4 million viewers and a 22% audience share, beating the BAFTA
British Academy Film Awards
The British Academy Film Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts . It is the British counterpart of the Oscars. As of 2008, it has taken place in the Royal Opera House, having taken over from the flagship Odeon cinema on Leicester Square...
coverage on BBC One. The series has been compared to Doc Martin
Doc Martin
Doc Martin is a British television comedy drama series starring Martin Clunes in the title role. It was created by Mark Crowdy, Craig Ferguson and Dominic Minghella. The show is filmed on location in the fishing village of Port Isaac, Cornwall, United Kingdom, with filming of most interior scenes...
, another ITV series featuring a professional working in a rural town.
The ratings for the first episode of Series 3 were affected by a scheduling clash with the finale of The Apprentice on BBC One; the episode had 4.95 million viewers and a 19.1% audience share.
"The Kingdom effect"
Filming of the series in Swaffham and surrounding areas has given a boost to the local economy, dubbed "the Kingdom effect" by producer Georgina Lowe. Businesses have capitalised on the popularity of the series by offering guided tours of featured locations, as well as tourist merchandise such as "Kingdom rock" and postcards. Lowe gave a lecture to Swaffham's Iceni Partnership in 2007, in which she explained that the production team used local businesses "for everything from equipment and scaffold rental to buying props, costumes, food and drink". By the end of the filming the second series, Parallel Productions had invested approximately £2.5 million into the local economy.Series 1
| Date | Episode | Viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|
| 22 April 2007 | 1 | 20.50 |
| 29 April 2007 | 2 | 7.05 |
| 6 May 2007 | 3 | 5.44 |
| 13 May 2007 | 4 | 5.89 |
| 20 May 2007 | 5 | 6.31 |
| 27 May 2007 | 6 | 6.28 |
|
Series 2
| Date | Episode | Viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|
| 13 January 2008 | 1 | 5.80 |
| 20 January 2008 | 2 | 6.16 |
| 27 January 2008 | 3 | 5.41 |
| 3 February 2008 | 4 | 5.23 |
| 10 February 2008 | 5 | 5.65 |
| 17 February 2008 | 6 | 5.69 |
|
Series 3
| Date | Episode | Viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|
| 7 June 2009 | 1 | 5.32 |
| 14 June 2009 | 2 | 4.70 |
| 21 June 2009 | 3 | 4.76 |
| 28 June 2009 | 4 | 5.10 |
| 5 July 2009 | 5 | 4.94 |
| 12 July 2009 | 6 | 5.14 |
|}
Broadcast history
The first series aired on the ITV network in the UK at 9 p.m. on Sunday nights from 22 April to 27 May 2007. The second series was commissioned before the first episode was broadcast. It was filmed from July to September 2007 and broadcast from January to February 2008. The third series was commissioned in March 2008 and began broadcast on 7 June 2009. STV decided not to broadcast series 3.International distribution rights were bought by Portman Film and Television, which sold the series to 14 international networks by February 2007. Seven regional European Hallmark Channel
Hallmark Channel
The Hallmark Channel is a cable television network that broadcasts across the United States. Their programming includes a mix of television movies/miniseries, syndicated series, and lifestyle shows that are appropriate for the whole family...
s broadcast it, with other showings on NRK in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, RÚV
RÚV
Ríkisútvarpið is Iceland's national public-service broadcasting organization.Operating from studios in the country's capital, Reykjavík, as well as regional centres around the country, the service broadcasts a variety of general programming to a wide audience across the whole country via radio...
in Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
, YLE in Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, Rai Tre
Rai Tre
Rai 3 is part of RAI, the Italian government broadcasting agency, which owns other channels, such as Rai 1 and Rai 2 . Rai 3 first started transmissions on December 15, 1979. In the eighties it was under the predominant political influence of the Italian Communist Party...
in Italy and één
EEN
EEN may refer to:* Eastern Educational Television Network, the original name for American Public Television.* Elemental Energy, a Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game booster pack.* Emerald Energy, an oil company...
in Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
. The Australian rights were picked up by the Seven Network
Seven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
, although the ABC aired seasons 1 and 2 in 2011, with TVNZ buying it for New Zealand. The programme aired in the United States on some PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
affiliates in early 2008. A wider syndication deal was struck with American Public Television
American Public Television
American Public Television is the largest syndicator of programming for public television stations in the United States.-History:...
later that year for the first two series to be available to all affiliates, and other public stations; the third season begins distribution on 1 December 2009.In Canada, the first and second series are being broadcast this year, (April-June, 2010), on the Vision TV network. The third series premiered on the Flemish channel één on 10 April 2009.
DVD releases
The first series was released by 2 Entertain Video on 28 May 2007 and includes the ITV3 Behind the Scenes special. 2 Entertain holds the worldwide rights to the DVD release in 2007. The complete second series was released on six DVDs in The Daily TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
and The Sunday Telegraph between 1 and 7 March 2008 and was also generally released from the 15th of June 2009.
Digital release
In August 2009, the six episodes of the first season were released in the United States on HuluHulu
Hulu is a website and over-the-top subscription service offering ad-supported on-demand streaming video of TV shows, movies, webisodes and other new media, trailers, clips, and behind-the-scenes footage from NBC, Fox, ABC, and Obstacle on October 20th 2011 Nickelodeon and CBS and many other...
, as part of Hulu's partnership with ITV.
All series of Kingdom are also available in the UK on the internet TV service SeeSaw
SeeSaw (Internet television)
SeeSaw was an Internet television service, born out of the BBC-led Project Kangaroo and launched in the UK on 17 February 2010. It was acquired by the Criterion Media Group in July 2011 but the agreed investment never materialised. The service was shut down on 28 October 2011...
which launched on 17 February 2010
Music
A soundtrack album featuring the original music from the series, composed and conducted by Mark Russel was released on the 15th of June 2009 and is only available through iTunes store at the moment. The album mainly contains music from the third series although some of it has been used earlier in the series.External links
- Kingdom at the British Film InstituteBritish Film InstituteThe British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
Related websites