Brideshead Revisited (TV series)

Brideshead Revisited
Original Region 2 PAL DVD
Based on	Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
Written by	Derek Granger
Directed by	Charles Sturridge Michael Lindsay-Hogg
Starring	Jeremy Irons Anthony Andrews
Theme music composer	Geoffrey Burgon
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	11 (list of episodes) Preview warning: Page using Template:Infobox television with "list_episodes" parameter using self-link. See Infobox instructions and MOS:INFOBOXPURPOSE.
Production
Producer	Derek Granger
Running time	659 minutes
Production company	Granada Television
Original release
Network	ITV
Release	12 October (1981-10-12) – 22 December 1981 (1981-12-22)
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Brideshead Revisited is a 1981 British television serial starring Jeremy Irons and Anthony Andrews. It was produced by Granada Television for broadcast by the ITV network. Significant elements of it were directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, who handled the initial phases of the production, before Charles Sturridge carried on with the series. The first episode is credited to both men equally.

The serial is an adaptation of the novel Brideshead Revisited (1945) by Evelyn Waugh. It follows, from the 1920s to the early 1940s, the life and romances of the protagonist Charles Ryder—including his friendship with the Flytes, a family of wealthy English Catholics who live in a palatial mansion called Brideshead Castle. The screenplay was written by Derek Granger (the series' producer) and others. Although the credits attribute the screenplay to John Mortimer, Mortimer's script was not used.^[1] Charles Sturridge declared that 95% of the dialogue was from Waugh's original text.^[2] The 11-episode serial premiered on ITV in the UK on 12 October 1981; on CBC Television in Canada on 19 October 1981; and as part of the Great Performances series on PBS in the US on 18 January 1982.^[3]

In 2000, the serial was tenth on the list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes compiled by the British Film Institute, based on a poll of industry professionals. In 2007, the serial was listed as one of Time magazine's "100 Best TV Shows of All-Time".^[4] In 2010, it was second in The Guardian newspaper's list of the top 50 TV dramas of all time.^[5] In 2015, The Telegraph listed it at number 1 in its list of the greatest television adaptations, stating that "Brideshead Revisited is television's greatest literary adaptation, bar none. It's utterly faithful to Evelyn Waugh's novel yet it's somehow more than that, too."^[6]