Tony Palmer directs this unique film drama about the great English composer Henry Purcell. Very little is known about his life, but the script, by the late John Osborne and Charles Wood, solves this problem by launching a group of actors in the 1960s on a voyage of discovery into late-17th century England, the extraordinary period in which Purcell lived. But it is Purcell’s music which is the driving force of this dramatization, with the stunning soundtrack conducted by John Eliot Gardiner.

Warning: Some scenes in this program are for mature audiences only.

 

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1. Restoration
2. A first piece by Harry
3. Bankruptcy
4. Marriage and mistresses
5. Plague
6. Fire of London
7. Rebuilding London
8. Plot and counterplot
9. Marriage of William and Mary
10. Religious division
11. James II
12. Return of William and Mary
13. King Arthur
14. Death of Mary
15. Mary’s funeral
16. Death of Harry
17. Britten, Osborne, Purcell

“Looks and sounds like a masterpiece - wonderful to hear as it is to behold. Overwhelming...it will blow you out of your seat”
- The Australian

"...the film is simply wonderful to behold on any number of levels: the Restoration period is recreated with loving detail, with sumptious costumes and production design, and Purcell's music is simply breathtakingly performed, conducted by the renowned John Eliot Gardiner...performances by Simon Callow, Michael Ball, Corin Redgrave are uniformly excellent. This was the last screenplay worked on by the legendary John Osborne, and his mordant wit and intelligence is well on display."
- Jeffrey Kauffman, DVDtalk