Tuesday, April 8, 2014

PREMIUM SPOTLIGHT ON BRILLIANT HISTORICAL WORLD WAR ONE TV SERIES 'THE CRIMSON FIELD' STARTS AT BBC WITH RICHARD RANKIN, ALEX WYNDHAM, OONA CHAPLIN

THE CRIMSON FIELD
BBC'S WWI HISTORICAL SERIES
And after THE MUSKETEERS have ended their adventures in the first season last week at BBC their Sunday evening spot was taken by THE CRIMSON FIELD epic historical series which debuted this weekend with high ratings in UK. Marking the first 100 years from the beginning of the World War One in six episodes, the mini series tells the touching and intriguing story of a team of doctors, nurses and women volunteers working together in a fictional field hospital at the beginning of the 20th century to heal the bodies and souls of men wounded in the trenches of the First World War. Exploring the human impact of the First World War and paying tribute to the millions who sacrificed their lives, the story begins a year into the war, in 1915, when soaring numbers of casualties resulted in a call for hospital volunteers.

THE CRIMSON FIELD CAST
Hermione Norris plays Grace Carter, the matron of a French field hospital, Surrane Jones plays sister Joan Livesey, a woman ahead of her time who makes her grand entrance on a motorbike. Oona  Chaplin plays Kitty Trevelyan, one of the hospital’s first VADs (Voluntary Aid Detachment), who arrives with emotional baggage and a chip on her shoulder. Richard Rankin is Captain Thomas Gillan, a brilliant surgeon but socially awkward and abrupt to the point of rudeness. Alex Wyndham plays Captain Miles Hesketh Thorne, a deep hearted and caring surgeon but when he puts down the knife he’s   quickly off in search of a good time. Kevin Doyle is Lieutenant Colonel Roland Brett, the fiercely loyal and morally centred head of the hospital.

67 comments:

  1. I haven't had time to start the Crimson Field yet, but I've got it marked as something see. Probably will have to wait for it to come out on Netflix, since this spring and summer are crazy at our house.

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    1. I'm also hoping it will appear at Torrents so that I can watch it

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  2. Oh, the 80s. What was old is new again. :)

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    1. even the fashion returns :(

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    2. The fashion was horrid in the 80's. The clothes, the hair, even the music sucked donkey balls.

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    3. especially the shoulder pads, dear, which are now back in style :( But the 80's music is still my fave :) Cyndi, Tina, Belinda... I just loved that decade and I'm glad I grew up listening to them than to today's garbage

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    4. I remember those shoulder pads. You couldn't buy a dress or a blouse without them in it. I'm a 60's and 70's person and by the 80's I was old enough that thematically the music was no longer relevant to what was going on today. Also I hated that hair band rock music.

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    5. I hated soft metal too, dear, but I love 80's pop music from Cyndi Lauper, Belinda Carlisle, Tina Turner, OMD, Erasure....

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  3. That is a very old photo of Sean Astin. Definitely pre Samwise Gamgee.

    Oh, and I will look out for The Crimson Field. One of my favorite new shows I caught last fall was Call the Midwife, a British show about, well, midwives in the 1950;s. Good historical shows are my thing. :)

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    1. it sure is :) I wouldn't be surprised if it's a fake one :) but I couldn't resist :)
      One of my publishers released CALL THE MIDWIFE book too last year. I watched a few episodes but they were a bit too slow paced for me. But good acting in it. I love BBC approach but they really have a problem with writing in recent years.

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    2. Call the Midwife was one of my absolute favourties. The characters were so good and the stories so touching.

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    3. I'm proud it was done in Europe, Americans could never shoot something that down to Earth and meaningful, dear

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    4. No, it takes the Brits to hit that tone perfectly.

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    5. sure does. Methinks all Americans need British nannies :)

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  4. I still have to see the first Goonies.

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    1. PS: I made a sage and butter gravy over the weekend that was killer good. Oh my gosh.

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    2. GOONIES were one of the films of my childhood, really a lovely adventure

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    3. I was a teen when I watched it but it was a great movie

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    4. such a great adventure it was

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  5. The Crimson Field is one I will look forward to. It will take a year to hit the Netflix though :(

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    1. maybe it will hit BBC America soon, dear

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    2. We don't have cable tv darling. There is so much absolutely wretched things that are bad for society on there that we refuse to pay that huge sum of money for it. The Netflix is cheap and you don't get adverts or their horrid News stations with it.

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    3. I totally get that, dear. In earlier days TV was educational but now it serves as a weapon of mass destruction and as a machine for pumping out torture porn

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  6. me likes the goonies, looking forward to a new film.

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  7. I am an 80's gal thru and thru!
    Loved Goonies.....
    Laughed my a$$ off at Naked Gun....
    Gremlins was awesome....
    Don't get me started on the music!
    Sorry....didn't mean to get carried away!
    Will look forward to these remakes.....
    Cheers!
    Linda :o)

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    1. Me too... so I can flush them down my Flushmaster 2000 or burn them. Unless, of course they're great. Then I won't.

      But they're not great. Greatness doesn't lie in imitation... :(

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    2. @Linda
      we did love the 80's so much. I was a baby then and loved the decade a lot because I grew up watching warm family sitcoms and shows and listening to nice romantic music

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    3. @Blue
      I totally didn't get your comment :)

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    4. Yeah Blue....chill out!
      Different strokes for different folks!

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    5. My kids and I spent many wonderful hours watching 80's movies and listening to 80's music....They STILL love the music!
      And the music videos...they were THE BEST!
      Take that Grumpster!

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    6. yep, growing up to HOME IMPROVEMENT, GOLDEN GIRLS, COSBY SHOW, ALF was certainly much better than growing up to GAME OF THRONES and other morbid gorefest :(

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    7. @Linda - I know. I love the eighties. I am 43. Hello! I was talking about those remakes. I can't stand them. Don't touch our classics.

      I'm so misunderstood :((((

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    8. Methinks Linda was joking too, Blue :)
      Speaking of age, did you know it's my B-day on Saturday? I will be as old as Methuselah then :((

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    9. I wasn't.... I'm always misunderstood. Even by Linda boo hoo hoo.

      Okay, I'm kidding.

      Say what... D-Day? Dezzzzzy Day? Happy Birthday to you Dezzman Day? Good thing I know. Old... you're not old.

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    10. Thanks, now go and bake me a cake :) I don't eat chocolate.....

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    11. No chocolate... So what do you do with it?

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  8. Good info. Thanks, Dez.
    Crimson Field sounds like it could be enthralling.

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    1. I'm hoping to start watching it soon! I have an empty place in my schedule since MUSKETEERS have ended :)

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  9. I love The Goonies so much I own the movie.

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  10. I am an 80's child. Loved everything about it, but I am putting my foot down and not seeing the remakes. I am so sick of everything being "remade" lately. Why mess with the classic 80's movies? Pft! ;)

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    1. That's right! Anyone who thinks he can redo Leslie Nielsen (I mean redo his Naked Gun... um... Naked Gun series) is a fool and plain rude to a guy who chose Let 'er rip" as his epitaph. Come on! DON'T TOUCH IT!!!!

      Yes, I'm upset. I hate Hollywood. There, I said it. Be creative. Come up with your freakin' own ideas for crying out loud. (Say something, Dezz.)

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    2. @Theresa
      me too, Theresa, I'm happy that I'm an 80's child too.

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    3. @Blue
      I wouldn't mind seeing Ed Helms' naked gun... Is Leslie still alive? I haven't seen him in ages.

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    4. No...sadly the great Canadian actor died last year :o(

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    5. Leslie has been gone for over three years, Dezz. Something to do with his lungs if I remember correctly. Poor guy. I loved his sense of humor. Inimitable.

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    6. I think I vaguely remember him dying... but there are so many celebs dying it's hard to keep track. And there are some for which I'm always convinced they're dead and then I get shocked when I see them alive LOL

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  11. Crimson Field was OK, I'll look forward to the Goonies, I always loved that film.

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  12. I actually haven't seen Goonies yet. I'm against these 80s remakes. Why remake them when the originals were fantastic?

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    1. That's right. Say it again. No one's listening but us.

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    2. not to mention that we've never seen a good remake....

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  13. Crimson Field is looking very, very nice, and what I've heard about it is really exciting...waiting for that on the French TV...

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    1. hope it will start soon in France since it takes place there!

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  14. Crimson field looks very nice. As does Sean Astin. ;0)

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  15. Almost didn't make it past that scorching image of Sean Astin. You get the hottest images, ever, Dezz. ;)

    I love, love the idea of Crimson Field. I love the First World War and it does not get nearly the attention that second one does. WWI is where everything started and there were so many lost lives and stories people need to know about.

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    1. I do, I really do :)

      Not to mention it started with the brutal ultimatum from Austria on my country and we lost nearly one million people in it... which is every fifth or sixth human being here....

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  16. The Crimson Field looks the goods - the Beeb usually do historical well (in that they don't often offend with historical revisionism ala Hollywood). Re poor Serbia in WW1 - the figures were even worse than you quote. Serbia had the highest casualty figures as a percentage of poulation for any nation in WW1. Recorded deaths are quoted as high as 800,000+ with at least 150,000 military and over double that for civilians - out of a population of just over 4 million. It amounted to over 18% - nearly three times that of any other country. But its very hard to estimate as in the 'Trail of Tears' - the great retreat across Albania to the Dalmation coast nearly half the population fled with the army. The army was about 120,000 at the start of the retreat - the Allies evacuated about 40-50,000 survivors. There are no records for the numbers of civilians lost but I've read of some estimates of up to 500,000. That was in 1915, early in the war. Its just one of the more important stories of WW1 that's often overlooked because of Serbia's equally dreadful experience in WW2. But its a story that should be told.

    PS: Belated Happy Birthday Chika Dez

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    1. Thanks on the B-day wishes, Doc :)

      It's true, Doc, and the population and the army were lead by our King Petar during the retreat across Albania to Crete. Too bad most of the world remembers only the western stories from both wars :(

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