5 March 2014

Via Terry Foreman in the discussion group comes the news that the ITV channel in the UK is going to make a drama called The Great Fire of London, to be broadcast on four consecutive days.

From Variety:

“Boardwalk Empire” and “American Hustle” thesp Jack Huston is to star as English monarch Charles II in Ecosse Films’ 17th-century period drama “The Great Fire of London,” which has been greenlit by U.K. free-to-air channel ITV.

The four-parter, which will unfold over four consecutive days, centers on Thomas Farriner, played by Andrew Buchan (“Broadchurch”), whose bakery in London’s Pudding Lane was at the heart of the catastrophic fire in 1666.

As it’s shooting this month, I’m guessing they’ll screen it in September, to coincide with the Fire’s anniversary.

Of particular interest to us is this:

…Daniel Mays (“Mrs Biggs,” “Treasure Island,” “Public Enemies”) appears as diarist Samuel Pepys, a close confidante of the King. Perdita Weeks (“The Invisible Woman”) will play Pepys’ wife Elizabeth.

Here are photos of Mays and Weeks, Sam and Elizabeth. What do you think?