Six months after its closing episode, Parade’s End is finally airing on HBO. I was able to watch all five parts last year, and cannot recommend the mini-series highly enough. Though Ford Madox Ford’s tetralogy, published between 1924 and 1928, is ranked as one of the 20th century’s greatest modernist novels, it is rather obscure and unfamiliar to the general public. I’m halfway through Parade’s End, and I can see why: it doesn’t have a clear-cut narrative, or admirable characters, or even a major, universal thread one can cling to; however, there is a haunting and fragile quality to the text, and Sir Tom Stoppard manages to capture it in his remarkable script.
But I’ll stop gushing about the series and turn the podium over to more erudite critics:
Parade’s End: The Real affair behind the BBC Drama
The Woman Who Inspired ‘Parade’s End’
Julian Barnes: a tribute to Parade’s End by Ford Madox Ford
HBO’s ‘Parade’s End’ steps smartly
Cast
Benedict Cumberbatch as Christopher Tietjens
Rebecca Hall as Sylvia Tietjens
Adelaide Clemens as Valentine Wannop
Rupert Everett as Mark Tietjens, Christopher’s half-brother
Stephen Graham as Vincent Macmaster
Miranda Richardson as Mrs Wannop, Valentine’s mother
Anne-Marie Duff as Edith Duchemin
Roger Allam as General Campion
Janet McTeer as Mrs Satterthwaite, Sylvia’s mother
Freddie Fox as Edward Wannop, Valentine’s brother
Patrick Kennedy as McKechnie
Rufus Sewell as Reverend Duchemin, Edith’s husband
HBO Schedule
Part 1: Feb. 26, 9pm
Part 2: Feb. 26, 10:05pm
Part 3: Feb. 27, 9pm
Part 4: Feb. 28, 10:05pm
Part 5: Feb. 28, 9pm
As an aside, there was a funny “feud” between Benedict and the men of Downton last autumn after Benedict was quoted as calling Downton’s second season “f***ing atrocious”.
Sounds like a wonderful series … it’s scheduled to record at our house! As far as I’m concerned, there is always time for more books, movies and TV about WWI.
I agree!
Looking forward to this one!
I wish I had HBO.
Hopefully it will be released on DVD.
Amazon still shows only the UK format DVD’s & BluRays. I’ve got an all-region DVD player & have had the DVD for some time now, but was considering a US-format BluRay because of the sumptuous production values. Sylvia’s blue room, with Tietjens reflected in the mirror, her goodbye note in his hand…
Alas, it appears that HBO is showing a cut version. Not the “naughty” bits–it’s HBO! Just a few little snips of dialog removed here & there. (One more reason to go back to the book–which I can now re-read on my smart phone; my kind of modernity!)
In April, Amazon will ship the long-unavailable 1964 BBC version of Parade’s End. With Judy Dench as Valentine!
(You’ve apparently been tweaking your site. I like the new, brighter look!)
It was fantastic. I watched it on the BBC website when it aired there, and watched it again on HBO here in the US. I cannot wait to buy it…I hope they make a US-version DVD, or I’ll have to buy a new DVD player.