MASTERPIECE THEATRE: THE DUCHESS OF DUKE STREET {SERIES 2, EPISODE 12}: THE LEGION OF THE LIVING (TV)
Summary
One in this ongoing series of dramas presented under the title "Masterpiece Theatre," hosted by Alistair Cooke. Episode twelve in the second series of this drama, based on a true story, about Louisa Trotter, a scullery maid in Edwardian England who rises to become the proprietor of The Bentinck, an exclusive London hotel, and confidante of the rich and famous. In this episode, Louisa returns to the ancestral estate bequeathed to her by her former lover, Charlie Haslemere, following his death from a head wound inflicted during World War I. There she meets Lottie Richards, the girl that she had with Charlie out of wedlock. Lottie, now a bright, mischievous adolescent, is stifled by her provincial small-town life, and is destined to a life of boredom and drudgery under the direction of her slovenly, drunken adoptive mother. Louisa wants to advance the girl's lot in life, but neither Major Smith-Barton nor Lottie's tutor, the vicar, can understand her extraordinary concern for the girl until Louisa reveals that Lottie is really her daughter. But the young girl learns Louisa's secret through Charlie's ailing and meddlesome former nanny. At first, Lottie runs away, but Louisa finds the girl and confronts her, leaving the decision about her future in her own hands.
Cataloging of this program was made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, 1999.
Details
- NETWORK: PBS
- DATE: March 10, 1980 Sunday 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:55:41
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:07961
- GENRE: Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama
- SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1971-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Joan Wilson … Producer
- John Hawkesworth … Producer, Created by
- Mary Ridge … Associate Producer
- Gerry Mill … Director
- Maggie Wadey … Writer
- Alistair Cooke … Host
- Alexander Faris … Theme Music by
- Gemma Jones … Cast, Louisa
- Lalla Ward … Cast, Lottie
- Richard Vernon … Cast, Major Smith-Barton
- Iain Cuthbertson … Cast, the Vicar
- Liz Smith … Cast, the Nanny
- Bryan Coleman … Cast, Lord Henry Norton
- Bernard Gallagher … Cast, Mr. Enfield
- Brenda Cowling … Cast, Elsie Richards
- Angela Curran … Cast, Liz