'THE LUMINARIES'
EPIC SERIES ARRIVES TO BBC
If, for obvious reasons, ITV decides to push
Singapore Grip to Autumn, six episode epic drama
THE LUMINARIES might very well be the last big historical series we shall enjoy till the new season arrives. The small screen
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| Luminaries will start on BBC June 21st |
adaptation of
Eleanor Catton's 2013 Man Booker Prize winning novel has just finished airing over at New Zealand but will hit British
BBC next weekend, Sunday June 21st, and, if I'm not mistaken, it will also be available on Starz Play.
1860s Gold Rush
The series tells an epic
story of love, murder and revenge, as men and women travelled across the
world to make their fortunes. It is a 19th century tale of adventure
and mystery, set on the Wild West Coast of New Zealand’s
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| Luminaries is a small screen adaptation of Eleanor Catton's book |
South Island in
the boom years of the 1860’s gold rush. The story follows defiant
young adventurer Anna Wetherell (
Eve Hewson), who has sailed from
Britain to New Zealand to begin a new life. There she meets the radiant
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| The Luminaries will air in six hourlong episodes |
Emery Staines (
Himesh Patel), an encounter that triggers a strange kind
of magic that neither can explain. As they fall in love, driven
together and apart by fateful coincidence, these star-crossed lovers
begin to wonder: do we make our fortunes, or do our fortunes make us?
What To Expect In Episode 1?
The story unfolds in two storylines.
The first begins in 1866, with a mystery: a politician, Alastair Lauderback (
Benedict Hardie), arrives at a cottage to find a woman, unconscious with opium; a Māori man, also
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| Eve Hewson leads the cast of the mini series |
unconscious; and a corpse. Lauderback brings the woman to town, where she is arrested for public intoxication and held at the jail.
The second storyline takes us back nine months earlier to 1865, beginning on the day of Anna
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| Eva Green plays evil fortune teller and brothel owner Lydia |
Wetherell’s (
Eve Hewson) arrival in New Zealand. She is fresh-faced and full of promise. After a romantic first encounter, she agrees to meet with fellow
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| Marton Csokas is a former convict in the new mini series |
passenger, Emery Staines (
Himesh Patel), but the scheming fortune-teller Lydia Wells (
Eva Green) has other designs. Anna is taken under Lydia’s wing, and Emery under the wing of former convict, Francis Carver (
Marton
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| Hamish Patel and Eve Hewson play the lead love couple |
Csokas).
In 1866 the corpse is brought back from the cottage and identified, and the town jailer, George Shepard (
Callan Mulvey), mounts a murder
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| Erik Thomson, Richard Te Are, Joel Tobeck, Mark Mitchinson, Yoson An also star |
investigation.
Back in 1865, Emery and Carver are interrupted by a man shouting in Cantonese, who then tries to kill Carver. Lydia’s husband, Crosbie Wells (
Ewen Leslie), returns home from the goldfield with a change in fortune.
HBO will show it in Spain on June 22th. I wonder when will it be shown in the USA.
ReplyDeleteIt is one of those series that aired on all possible and different channels worldwide LOL I try to cater to most of the world with airing info, but it has become so difficult :) For example, Beecham House, which we in Europe watched last year, starts only today on PBS in America.
DeleteThat sounds cool but I don't think it's really my kind of show.
ReplyDeleteIt does have stunning costumes, done by the same guy who did costumes in Harlots.
DeleteI love her straw hat with the gold ribbon around it. I would totally rock that every time I go outside, although, with the gold it may look a bit extra. :)
ReplyDeleteThe costume designer really had fun with this one, lots of velvety emeralds and golds in gowns and dresses.
DeleteThe costumes and scenery both draw me to this one!
ReplyDeleteIt should be visually very pretty.
Delete