Period drama serial Casanova was an eyebrow raising version of the life of the 18th Century lover who died aged 73 (from exhaustion presumably). The show was subsequently reedited for a 4×75 minutes reshowing the following year.
The serial stirred up a huge amount of controversy thanks to its frank portrayal of sex, but can seen as something of a continuation of the controversy that had been dogging Dennis Potter for some time, especially the previous years Son of Man which showed Jesus as a solid, ordinary, working man and Angels Are So Few which featured more sexual imagery. In Casanova Frank Finlay is the ageing lotario looking back on his life whilst languishing in a prison cell.
This was Potter’s first extended work and the serial format really allows him to stretch out and start to develop his style.
Cast: FRANK FINLAY as Giovanni Casanova; NORMAN ROSSINGTON as Lorenzo; ZIENIA MERTON as Christina; CHRISTINE NOONAN as Barbarina; PATRICK NEWELL as Carlo; GEOFFREY WINCOTT as Senator Bragadin; RONALD ADAM as Senior Inquisitor
Writer: Dennis Potter / Script Editor: Shaun MacLoughlin / Music: John Burrows / Production Design: Peter Seddon / Producer: Mark Shivas / Directors: John Glenister, Mark Cullingham
UK / BBC Two / 6 episodes with various durations between 49 and 57 minutes / Broadcast 16 November – 21 December 1971
THE EPISODES
1. STEED IN THE STABLE (16 Nov 71)
2. ONE AT A TIME (23 Nov 71)
3. MAGIC MOMENTS (30 Nov 71)
4. WINDOW, WINDOW (7 Dec 71)
5. FEVERS OF LOVE (14 Dec 71)
6. GOLDEN APPLES (21 Dec 71)
