The Lost Prince
Encyclopedia
The Lost Prince is an acclaimed British
television drama serial, produced by Talkback Thames for the BBC
and originally broadcast in two episodes on BBC One
in January 2003. It won an Emmy Award
in September 2005.
Written and directed by the dramatist Stephen Poliakoff
, the production tells the true story of Prince John
, the youngest child of Britain's
King George V
and Queen Mary
, who died of epilepsy
at the age of 13 in 1919.
-like developmental disorder, and the Royal Family
tried to shelter him from public view as much as possible; the script shied away from presenting the Royal Family as unsympathetic to the Prince, and instead showed how much this cost them emotionally (particularly John's mother, Queen Mary
). Poliakoff explores the story of John, his relationship with his family, John's brother, Prince George
, the political events going on at the time (like the fall of the House of Romanov in 1917) and the love and devotion shown to him by his nanny, Charlotte Bill
(known as Lalla), played by Gina McKee
.
and DVD
and was repeated on BBC One
in January 2004, almost one year after its original showing with the South Bank Show Drama Award. A further repeat showing followed on BBC Two
in January 2006. It is now occasionally shown in two parts on the BBC cable channel UK History. Both Miranda Richardson
and Gina McKee
received Best Actress nominations at the British Academy Television Awards
in April 2004. The miniseries was also nominated for BAFTA TV awards for editing (Clare Douglas
), music (Adrian Johnston), and photography (Barry Ackroyd).
When the production was transmitted in the United States
in October 2004, it won the Emmy Award
for Outstanding Miniseries in 2005. Miranda Richardson was nominated for a Golden Globe.
It was also repeated on BBC Two
on 14 & 21 November 2009
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...
television drama serial, produced by Talkback Thames for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
and originally broadcast in two episodes 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 January 2003. It won an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
in September 2005.
Written and directed by the dramatist Stephen Poliakoff
Stephen Poliakoff
Stephen Poliakoff, CBE, FRSL is an acclaimed British playwright, director and scriptwriter, widely judged amongst Britain's foremost television dramatists.-Early life and career:...
, the production tells the true story of Prince John
Prince John of the United Kingdom
The Prince John was a member of the British Royal Family, the youngest son of King George V and Queen Mary. The Prince had epilepsy and consequently was largely hidden from the public eye.-Early life:...
, the youngest child of Britain's
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
King George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
and Queen Mary
Mary of Teck
Mary of Teck was the queen consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, as the wife of King-Emperor George V....
, who died of epilepsy
Epilepsy
Epilepsy is a common chronic neurological disorder characterized by seizures. These seizures are transient signs and/or symptoms of abnormal, excessive or hypersynchronous neuronal activity in the brain.About 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, and nearly two out of every three new cases...
at the age of 13 in 1919.
Plot
John suffered from epileptic seizures and an autismAutism
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
-like developmental disorder, and the Royal Family
British Royal Family
The British Royal Family is the group of close relatives of the monarch of the United Kingdom. The term is also commonly applied to the same group of people as the relations of the monarch in her or his role as sovereign of any of the other Commonwealth realms, thus sometimes at variance with...
tried to shelter him from public view as much as possible; the script shied away from presenting the Royal Family as unsympathetic to the Prince, and instead showed how much this cost them emotionally (particularly John's mother, Queen Mary
Mary of Teck
Mary of Teck was the queen consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, as the wife of King-Emperor George V....
). Poliakoff explores the story of John, his relationship with his family, John's brother, Prince George
Prince George, Duke of Kent
Prince George, Duke of Kent was a member of the British Royal Family, the fourth son of George V and Mary of Teck, and younger brother of Edward VIII and George VI...
, the political events going on at the time (like the fall of the House of Romanov in 1917) and the love and devotion shown to him by his nanny, Charlotte Bill
Charlotte Bill
Charlotte Jane "Lalla" Bill was a nanny to the children of the Duke and Duchess of York, later King George V and Queen Mary. She was most closely linked with the couple's youngest child, Prince John, whom she nursed devotedly from 1905 until his death in 1919.- Employment :Lalla began her...
(known as Lalla), played by Gina McKee
Gina McKee
Georgina "Gina" McKee is an English actor known for her television roles in Our Friends in the North , The Lost Prince and The Forsyte Saga ; and her portrayal of Bella in the film Notting Hill ....
.
Reception & awards
The serial won a high viewing figure and much praise, was released on VHSVHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
and DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
and was repeated 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 January 2004, almost one year after its original showing with the South Bank Show Drama Award. A further repeat showing followed on BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
in January 2006. It is now occasionally shown in two parts on the BBC cable channel UK History. Both Miranda Richardson
Miranda Richardson
Miranda Jane Richardson is an English stage, film and television actor. She has been nominated for two Academy Awards, and has won two Golden Globes and a BAFTA during her career....
and Gina McKee
Gina McKee
Georgina "Gina" McKee is an English actor known for her television roles in Our Friends in the North , The Lost Prince and The Forsyte Saga ; and her portrayal of Bella in the film Notting Hill ....
received Best Actress nominations at the British Academy Television Awards
British Academy Television Awards
The British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts . They have been awarded annually since 1954, and are analogous to the Emmy Awards in the United States.-Background:...
in April 2004. The miniseries was also nominated for BAFTA TV awards for editing (Clare Douglas
Clare Douglas
Clare Douglas is a British film editor who received a BAFTA Award for Best Editing for the 2006 film United 93. Douglas has worked extensively on British television, and she has been nominated four times for BAFTA Television Editing Awards.-Biography:...
), music (Adrian Johnston), and photography (Barry Ackroyd).
When the production was transmitted in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in October 2004, it won the Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for Outstanding Miniseries in 2005. Miranda Richardson was nominated for a Golden Globe.
It was also repeated on BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
on 14 & 21 November 2009
Cast
- Daniel Williams - Prince JohnPrince John of the United KingdomThe Prince John was a member of the British Royal Family, the youngest son of King George V and Queen Mary. The Prince had epilepsy and consequently was largely hidden from the public eye.-Early life:...
(younger) - Matthew James ThomasMatthew James ThomasMatthew James Thomas is a British actor, best known for his role in the UK drama/musical show, Britannia High.-Early life:...
- Prince John (older) - Brock Everitt-Elwick - Prince GeorgePrince George, Duke of KentPrince George, Duke of Kent was a member of the British Royal Family, the fourth son of George V and Mary of Teck, and younger brother of Edward VIII and George VI...
(younger) - Rollo WeeksRollo WeeksRollo Weeks is a British actor, the son of Robin and Susan Weeks, and the brother of Honeysuckle Weeks and Perdita Weeks, both actresses. His name means "famous wolf".-Acting:...
- Prince George (older) - Gina McKeeGina McKeeGeorgina "Gina" McKee is an English actor known for her television roles in Our Friends in the North , The Lost Prince and The Forsyte Saga ; and her portrayal of Bella in the film Notting Hill ....
- LallaCharlotte BillCharlotte Jane "Lalla" Bill was a nanny to the children of the Duke and Duchess of York, later King George V and Queen Mary. She was most closely linked with the couple's youngest child, Prince John, whom she nursed devotedly from 1905 until his death in 1919.- Employment :Lalla began her... - Tom HollanderTom HollanderThomas Anthony "Tom" Hollander is a British actor who has appeared in productions such as Enigma, Gosford Park, Cambridge Spies, Pride and Prejudice, Pirates of the Caribbean, In the Loop, Valkyrie and Hanna.-Early life:Tom Hollander was born in Bristol and raised in Oxford, Oxfordshire, the son...
- King George VGeorge V of the United KingdomGeorge V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936.... - Miranda RichardsonMiranda RichardsonMiranda Jane Richardson is an English stage, film and television actor. She has been nominated for two Academy Awards, and has won two Golden Globes and a BAFTA during her career....
- Queen MaryMary of TeckMary of Teck was the queen consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, as the wife of King-Emperor George V.... - Bill NighyBill NighyWilliam Francis "Bill" Nighy is an English actor and comedian. He worked in theatre and television before his first cinema role in 1981, and made his name in television with The Men's Room in 1991, in which he played the womanizer Prof...
- Arthur Bigge, 1st Baron StamfordhamArthur Bigge, 1st Baron StamfordhamArthur John Bigge, 1st Baron Stamfordham, GCB, GCVO, GCIE, KCSI, KCMG , ISO, PC , was a British soldier and courtier. He was Private Secretary to Queen Victoria during the last few years of her reign, and to King George V during most of his reign... - Bibi AnderssonBibi AnderssonBibi Andersson is a Swedish actress.-Early life:Bibi Andersson was born as Berit Elisabeth Andersson in Kungsholmen, Stockholm, the daughter of Karin , a social worker, and Josef Andersson, a businessman...
- Queen AlexandraAlexandra of DenmarkAlexandra of Denmark was the wife of Edward VII of the United Kingdom... - Ron CookRon CookRon Cook is an English actor who has been active in the theatre, film and television since the 1970s. He is from South Shields, Co Durham, England and is a graduate of Rose Bruford College.- Stage appearances :...
- David Lloyd GeorgeDavid Lloyd GeorgeDavid Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman... - Frank FinlayFrank FinlayFrancis Finlay, CBE is an English stage, film and television actor.-Personal life:Finlay was born in Farnworth, Lancashire, the son of Margaret and Josiah Finlay, a butcher. A devout Catholic, he belongs to the British Catholic Stage Guild. He was educated at St...
- H. H. AsquithH. H. AsquithHerbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, KG, PC, KC served as the Liberal Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916... - John SessionsJohn SessionsJohn Gibb Marshall , better known by the stage name John Sessions, is a Scottish actor and comedian. He is known for comedy improvisation in television shows such as Whose Line Is It Anyway?; as a panellist on QI; and as a character actor in numerous films, both in the UK and in Hollywood.-Early...
- Henry Hansell - Michael GambonMichael GambonSir Michael John Gambon, CBE is an Irish actor who has worked in theatre, television and film. A highly respected theatre actor, Gambon is recognised for his roles as Philip Marlowe in the BBC television serial The Singing Detective, as Jules Maigret in the 1990s ITV serial Maigret, and as...
- King Edward VIIEdward VII of the United KingdomEdward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910... - David Barrass - Kaiser Wilhelm II
- Ivan Marevich - Tsar Nicholas IINicholas II of RussiaNicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Prince of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official short title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church.Nicholas II ruled from 1894 until...
- Ingeborga DapkūnaitėIngeborga DapkunaiteIngeborga Dapkūnaitė is a Lithuanian actress, who stars mostly in Russian movies.-Youth:Ingeborga Dapkunaite was born in Vilnius, Lithuanian SSR. Her father was a diplomat and her mother a meteorologist. For many years her parents worked in Moscow, and she only saw them on holidays...
- Tsaritsa Alexandra Feodorovna - Vanessa Ackerman - Grand Duchess OlgaGrand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of RussiaGrand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia ; , November 16 after 1900 – July 17, 1918) was the eldest daughter of the last autocratic ruler of the Russian Empire, Emperor Nicholas II, and of Empress Alexandra of Russia....
- Holly Boyd - Grand Duchess TatianaGrand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of RussiaGrand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia , , was the second daughter of Tsar Nicholas II, the last monarch of Russia, and of Tsarina Alexandra...
- Nastya Razduhova - Grand Duchess MariaGrand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of RussiaGrand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia was the third daughter of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and Tsarina Alexandra Fyodorovna...
- Algina Lipskis - Grand Duchess AnastasiaGrand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of RussiaGrand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia was the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, the last sovereign of Imperial Russia, and his wife Alexandra Fyodorovna....
- Samuel PageSamuel PageSamuel Page is an American actor. He is credited under the name Sam Page.-Early life:...
- Tsarevich Alexei - Roz McCutcheon - Princess Mary AdelaidePrincess Mary Adelaide of CambridgePrincess Mary Adelaide Wilhelmina Elizabeth of Cambridge was a member of the British Royal Family, a granddaughter of George III, and great-grandmother of Elizabeth II. She held the title of Duchess of Teck through marriage.Mary Adelaide is remembered as the mother of Queen Mary, the consort of...