The Lost Prince
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Lost Prince is an acclaimed two-part British television drama, produced by Talkback Thames for the BBC and originally broadcast on BBC One in January 2003. It won an Emmy Award in September 2005.
Written and directed by the dramatist Stephen Poliakoff, the production tells the true story of Prince John, the youngest child of Britain's King George V and Queen Mary, who died of epilepsy at the age of 13 in 1919.
John also suffered from autistic-like learning difficulties, and the Royal Family tried to shelter him from public view as much as possible; the play shied away from presenting the Royal Family as ogres, and instead showed how much this would have cost them emotionally (particularly John's mother, Queen Mary). Poliakoff explores the story of John, his relationship with his family, John's brother Prince George, the political events going on at the time (like the fall of the House of Romanov in 1917) and the love and devotion shown to him by his nanny, Lalla, played by Gina McKee.
The drama also includes a moving portrayal of Tsar Nicholas II's execution in 1918, when the Russian Emperor and his family were brutally murdered. However, some historians criticised the production's depiction of Nicholas and his wife Alexandra as stereotyped. Nicholas was portrayed as weak and incompetent, with the Empress Alexandra as a domineering snob.
Other actors to feature in the production are Miranda Richardson as Queen Mary, Michael Gambon as King Edward VII, Tom Hollander as King George V, and Bill Nighy as Lord Stamfordham. It won a high viewing figure and much praise, was released on VHS and DVD and was repeated on BBC One in January 2004, almost exactly one year after its original showing. A further repeat showing followed on BBC Two in January 2006. Both Miranda Richardson and Gina McKee received Best Actress nominations at the British Academy Television Awards in April 2004.
When the production was transmitted in the United States in October 2004, it garnered huge critical acclaim and a Golden Globe nomination for Miranda Richardson. In a rare win for the British, it won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries in 2005.
