Gentlemen’s Relish (BBC-1 2001 with Billy Connolly and Sarah Lancashire)

Lavish period comedy drama Gentlemen’s Relish carried bags of charm with it’s tale set in Edwardian London and story of photographer Kingdom Swann (Billy Connolly) who begins a series of tastefully nude tableaux scenes, what he doesn’t know however that his right hand man Cromwell Marsh (Douglas Henshall) is selling the pictures as pornography.

A fabulous cast led by the always watchable Billy Connolly and gorgeous production design and a typically sharp script from Reggie Perrin creator David Nobbs made this a real treat.

Cast: BILLY CONNOLLY as Kingdom Swann; SARAH LANCASHIRE as Violet Askey; DOUGLAS HENSHALL as Cromwell Marsh; KATIE BLAKE as Charlotte Crisp; LIZ EWING as Alice Hancock; EMILY HILLIER as Ethel Spooner; NICK STRINGER as Edward Stelbourne; TERESA BANHAM as Jane Davidson; JOHN WARNABY as Gordon Simms; SIMON CHANDLER as Mr Prestwick; JAMIE BRADLEY as Stanley Gaunt; DOMINIC MAFHAM as Lord Thornycroft; REBECCA JOHNSON as Elder Rosetti; EMMA STANSFIELD as Younger Rossetti; SEANA MONTAGUE as Cleopatra

WRITER: David Nobbs | BASED ON THE NOVEL: Kingdom Swann by Miles Gibson | PRODUCER: Martyn Auty, Sarah Boote | PHOTOGRAPHY CONSULTANT: Mark Dorman | COSTUMES: James Keast | MUSIC: Julian Nott / PRODUCTION DESIGN: Malcolm Thornton | CAMERA: Gavin Finney / EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Geoffrey Perkins, Mike Slee, Jim Reeve | DIRECTOR: Douglas Mackinnon

UK / BBC1 – Stock Prod. – Principal Pictures / 1×90 minutes / Monday 1 January 2001 @ 9.20pm