The Chatterley Affair
Encyclopedia
The Chatterley Affair is a BBC
television drama, produced by BBC Wales
and broadcast on BBC Four
on 20 March, 2006. It is an account of the obscenity trial surrounding the publication of Lady Chatterley's Lover
in 1960. Written by Andrew Davies
and directed by James Hawes
, it draws heavily, and accurately, on the court reporter's notes (published by Penguin as The Trial of Lady Chatterley) for scenes that take place within the courtroom but also presents entirely fictitious scenes involving the deliberations of jury members. These were, like all jury deliberations under English law, unmonitored when they took place.
The Chatterley Affair stars Louise Delamere
and Rafe Spall
as two fictional jurors who become lovers during the course of the trial; their brief relationship taking, and reflecting aspects of, the novel's own narrative and themes. The script chooses to invert the novel's central conceit by showing a relationship between a worldly woman and a naive man, rather than the other way around.
Also featured are numerous real-life participants in the trial, such as judge Mr Justice Byrne (played here by Karl Johnson
), prosecutor Mervyn Griffith-Jones
(Pip Torrens
), defence lawyer Gerald Gardiner (Donald Sumpter
) and sociologist
Richard Hoggart
(David Tennant
).
The scenes set in the Old Bailey
were filmed in the disused Kingston Crown Court
at Kingston Town Hall
.
.
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...
television drama, produced by BBC Wales
BBC Wales
BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the British Broadcasting Corporation for Wales. Based at Broadcasting House in the Llandaff area of Cardiff, it directly employs over 1200 people, and produces a broad range of television, radio and online services in both the Welsh and English languages.Outside...
and broadcast on BBC Four
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
on 20 March, 2006. It is an account of the obscenity trial surrounding the publication of Lady Chatterley's Lover
Lady Chatterley's Lover
Lady Chatterley's Lover is a novel by D. H. Lawrence, first published in 1928. The first edition was printed privately in Florence, Italy with assistance from Pino Orioli; it could not be published openly in the United Kingdom until 1960...
in 1960. Written by Andrew Davies
Andrew Davies (writer)
Andrew Wynford Davies is a British author and screenwriter. He was made a Fellow of BAFTA in 2002.-Education and early career:...
and directed by James Hawes
James Hawes
James Hawes is a British television director, who has worked in British television drama since the late 1990s, and also produced documentaries for British and American networks....
, it draws heavily, and accurately, on the court reporter's notes (published by Penguin as The Trial of Lady Chatterley) for scenes that take place within the courtroom but also presents entirely fictitious scenes involving the deliberations of jury members. These were, like all jury deliberations under English law, unmonitored when they took place.
The Chatterley Affair stars Louise Delamere
Louise Delamere
Louise Delamere is an English actress best known for her role as Lia in the Channel 4 comedy drama, No Angels.Delamere is from Wallasey, Wirral, Merseyside and was a classmate of the Boo Radleys at St Mary's College. She studied acting at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow,...
and Rafe Spall
Rafe Spall
Rafe Joseph Spall is an English actor. He is best known for his roles in the Edgar Wright films Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz , alongside Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. He had previously appeared alongside Pegg and Frost in a 2001 episode of Spaced...
as two fictional jurors who become lovers during the course of the trial; their brief relationship taking, and reflecting aspects of, the novel's own narrative and themes. The script chooses to invert the novel's central conceit by showing a relationship between a worldly woman and a naive man, rather than the other way around.
Also featured are numerous real-life participants in the trial, such as judge Mr Justice Byrne (played here by Karl Johnson
Karl Johnson
Karl Johnson is a Welsh actor, notable for acting on stage, film and television. He is the recipient of an honorary doctorate from Birmingham City University. His most notable role to date was the title role in Derek Jarman's 1993 film Wittgenstein...
), prosecutor Mervyn Griffith-Jones
Mervyn Griffith-Jones
John Mervyn Guthrie Griffith-Jones, CBE MC QC was a British judge and former barrister. He is most famous for leading the prosecution of Penguin Books in the obscenity trial in 1960 following the publication of D. H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover...
(Pip Torrens
Pip Torrens
Pip Torrens is an English actor.He was born in Bromley, Kent, England. He studied English Literature at Trinity College, Cambridge...
), defence lawyer Gerald Gardiner (Donald Sumpter
Donald Sumpter
Donald Sumpter is a British actor. He has appeared in film and television since the mid 1960s.-Life and work:One of his early television appearances was the 1968 Doctor Who serial The Wheel in Space with Patrick Troughton as the Doctor. He appeared in Doctor Who again in the 1972 serial The Sea...
) and sociologist
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
Richard Hoggart
Richard Hoggart
Herbert Richard Hoggart is a British academic and public figure, whose career has covered the fields of sociology, English literature and cultural studies, with a special concern for British popular culture.-Career:...
(David Tennant
David Tennant
David Tennant is a Scottish actor. In addition to his work in theatre, including a widely praised Hamlet, Tennant is best known for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, along with the title role in the 2005 TV serial Casanova and as Barty Crouch, Jr...
).
The scenes set in the Old Bailey
Old Bailey
The Central Criminal Court in England and Wales, commonly known as the Old Bailey from the street in which it stands, is a court building in central London, one of a number of buildings housing the Crown Court...
were filmed in the disused Kingston Crown Court
Crown Court
The Crown Court of England and Wales is, together with the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal, one of the constituent parts of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
at Kingston Town Hall
Kingston upon Thames
Kingston upon Thames is the principal settlement of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in southwest London. It was the ancient market town where Saxon kings were crowned and is now a suburb situated south west of Charing Cross. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the...
.
DVD release
The Chatterley Affair is available on DVD in the UK, distributed by Acorn Media UKAcorn Media UK
Acorn Media UK is a DVD publisher which distributes and sells home video products with a particular focus on British television.- Company history :The company was founded in 1997 when Lesley Fromant set up a branch of parent company Acorn Media in the UK....
.
External links
- The Chatterley Affair at bbc.co.ukBbc.co.ukBBC Online is the brand name and home for the BBC's UK online service. It is a large network of websites including such high profile sites as BBC News and Sport, the on-demand video and radio services co-branded BBC iPlayer, the pre-school site Cbeebies, and learning services such as Bitesize...
- Article from The TimesThe TimesThe Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
.