The Palace

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the arena, see The Palace of Auburn Hills. For the hotel, see The New York Palace Hotel. See also Palace (disambiguation).

The Palace
Genre	Drama
Created by	Tom Grieves
Directed by	Metin Hüseyin Maurice Phillips
Starring	Rupert Evans Jane Asher Sophie Winkleman Zoe Telford Roy Marsden
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Language(s)	English
No. of episodes	8
Production
Executive producer(s)	George Faber Charles Pattinson Tom Grieves
Producer(s)	Gina Cronk
Running time	50 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	ITV1
Original run	14 January – 3 March 2008
External links
Official website
IMDb profile

The Palace is a British television drama that aired on ITV1 in 2008. Produced by Company Pictures, it was created by Tom Grieves. The series was filmed in Lithuania.^[1] The Palace was axed after one series due to low viewing figures.^[2]

The Palace follows a fictional British royal family in the aftermath of the death of King James III and the succession of his 24-year-old son, Richard, played by Rupert Evans. It also stars Jane Asher and Zoe Telford.

Contents 1 Production 1.1 Writing 1.2 Filming 1.3 Pre-broadcast publicity 2 Cast 2.1 The Royal Family 2.2 The staff 3 Plot 4 Episodes 5 Reception 6 Broadcast in other countries 7 DVD releases 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Production

Tom Grieves' initial pitch centred on "a woman operating within the shadow of power". Ideas for the "power" included the Prime Minister, Mick Jagger and Rupert Murdoch before he settled on a fictional royal family. The relationship between the woman and the royal family was modelled on that seen in The West Wing between Jed Bartlet and his staff; Grieves desired to mimic The West Wing's "talky, aspirational, sophisticated" style in his own series.^[3]

[edit] Writing

The series is written by Grieves, Chris Lang, Charlotte Jones and Toby Whitehouse.^[1] Grieves was influenced in his writing by Hamlet, exploring how Richard deals with the "ancient, ritualistic institution" that he inherits after James dies.^[3] The writers deliberately avoided making comparisons to the real royal family, despite the comparisons made between Richard and George to Princes William and Harry. Patrick Jephson—the former private secretary to Diana, Princess of Wales—was consulted extensively during production, working with the writing team for over a year.^[4]

[edit] Filming

Sets were designed by Taff Batley. Batley scouted production locations in Hungary due to the expense a production the size of The Palace would have if filmed in the UK. A site was eventually found near the dock in Vilnius, Lithuania. Exterior sets of Buckingham Palace were scaled down from their true counterparts because of the length of time full-sized replicas would take to create; the scale sets alone took ten weeks to build. Red gravel for the palace courtyard was mimicked using clay that was bound for a new tennis court under construction nearby.^[5]

Interior sets were built in an ice skating rink on the other side of the city. They used plasterboard instead of the lighter, cheaper plywood that would have been used on a British-based set. Batley referred to documentary footage to find a basis for his designs of bedrooms and other private areas of the palace that would otherwise not be available for public viewing.^[5] Locals were hired as extras, portraying lords and ladies in large crowd scenes. Unaccustomed to bowing and curtseying, the extras had to be trained and some scenes reshot.^[6]

[edit] Pre-broadcast publicity

The series is described by Broadcast as a "West Wing-style drama",^[7] with ITV describing it as "exploring the upstairs/downstairs relationship between the royal family and their servants".^[1] Further to ITV's description of the programme, The Guardian's MediaGuardian supplement reported "those who have seen the scripts" as directly comparing it to Upstairs, Downstairs. The earliest summaries of the plot placed the focus of the series on a woman who is working undercover at Buckingham Palace with the intent of writing an exposé of the King's life. The woman (later named "Abigail") "goes native" and cancels her book because she falls for the King.^[8]

In an interview prior to the programme's broadcast, Jane Asher conjectured that her character, Queen Charlotte, had been a "society model" before her 30-year union to James. Asher says that Charlotte's sense of duty drives her to unite the family in the first few episodes.^[9]

[edit] Cast

[edit] The Royal Family Actor Character Rupert Evans Richard IV Jane Asher Queen Charlotte Sophie Winkleman Princess Eleanor Sebastian Armesto Prince George Nathalie Lunghi Princess Isabelle

[edit] The staff Actor Character Roy Marsden Sir Iain Ratalick Zoe Telford Abigail Thomas David Harewood Major Simon Brooks Lorcan Cranitch Jonty Roberts Huw Rhys David Waverly Fiona Button Lucy Bedford

[edit] Plot

On the sudden death of the King, his 24-year-old elder son, Richard, inherits the Throne. This causes resentment with his elder sister, Princess Eleanor, who wants the Throne for herself. Her Private Secretary Major Simon Brooks helps her in trying to discredit the new king. Richard's younger brother, Prince George, is a party-animal, while the younger daughter, Princess Isabelle, is an A-Level student. Their mother is the now-widowed Queen Charlotte.

Abigail Thomas is Richard's secretary who plans to write a tell-all book about her life in the Palace. Richard's Private Secretary is Sir Iain Ratalick. Other staff featured in the series are Abigail's Personal Assistant Lucy Bedford and the Press Secretary Jonty Roberts.

[edit] Episodes

The Palace aired on Mondays at 9.00pm. Each episode is about 50 minutes long and originally aired in a sixty minute slot with adverts.

#	Episode	Writer	Director	Original airdate
1	"Episode One"	Tom Grieves	Metin Hüseyin	14 January 2008
Richard, Prince of Wales and Prince George are out clubbing when their father, King James III, dies suddenly while at the opera. Richard then succeeded to the Throne as Richard IV, and within hours has met the Prime Minister Edward Shaw (John Shrapnel). Richard's elder sister, Princess Eleanor, is immediately jealous of his new position as she believes she should be Queen and she and her Private Secretary Major Simon Brooks start plotting to discredit Richard. Abi speaks to a publisher about doing a tell-all book. Meanwhile, footman Jimmy sees the King kissing a woman in the Throne Room, and The Sun threatens to break the story after James III's funeral. Before this happens, the King does a live television interview with Joanna Woodward (Harriet Walter). During the interview, Richard speaks candidly about his feelings of inadequacy and his love for his country.
2	"Episode Two"	Chris Lang	Metin Hüseyin	21 January 2008
The King is having an affair with Miranda Hill (Shelley Conn), the married press officer to the Prime Minister. Their relationship soon ends when her office leaks old drunken photos of him — the leak comes after the King argues with the Prime Minister over defence cuts. Richard inflames him by appearing to criticise the cuts and invites a recent war-widow to tea. Meanwhile, Prince George admits to the Palace's Chief Superintendent Peter Bayfield (John Ramm) that he hit a man while driving at night, and did not stop to see if the man was all right. The Palace then tries to cover this up with only a handful of people knowing, but Princess Eleanor manages to find out from the security officer who was with Prince George at the time. Eleanor then tells Richard and encourages him to cover it up, so she can leak it later to make them both look bad.
3	"Episode Three"			28 January 2008
The King's relationship with Miranda Hill continues despite, at first, Miranda's reluctance to do so. The relationship between, Abigail and Simon begins to flourish, although Abigail has no idea that his motives for this lie in the fact that the King's sister, Princess Eleanor, is determined to find out her brother's mystery lover. The King, after some persuasion, forces Prince George to confess and visit the victim of the car accident. After his visit to the hospital it is evident that the brothers' bond has broken. On discovering the identity of the mystery lover, Abigail hints to King Richard that she knows. This results in the King visiting Abigail in her flat and she assures him that she will tell no one. After their meeting the King leaves the building and is photographed by the press.
4	"Episode Four"			4 February 2008
Abigail is now the centre of attention with her picture splashed all over the newspapers after cameras caught the King leaving her apartment. Sir Iain grows even more suspicious of her by asking himself the question why was the King there in the first place. However, Princess Eleanor's aide, Simon, figures the real identity of the King's lover, Miranda, and goes straight to inform the Princess who in turn informs the Sunday 'papers. The Prime Minister and Sir Iain rush to the King's assistance and come up with a cover story. They will tell the world that Abigail is the real lover and keep the identity of Miranda a secret. The King, however, rejects the plan and his relationship with Miranda ends.
5	"Episode Five"			11 February 2008
In order to cause trouble, Princess Eleanor encourages her mother to wear a sentimental diamond necklace that was taken by the British in the days of the Raj. The Indians now want this back, and when Charlotte wears it when the Indian President is paying a state visit a diplomatic incident occurs. Richard wants to give it back, but also is worried about taking it away from his mother due to its sentimental value. Eventually, the Queen gives the necklace to the Indians herself. Meanwhile, a childhood friend of Richard’s, the Honourable Alice Templeton (Clemency Burton-Hill), is invited to the Palace by the Queen on the hope they will fall in love and marry. However, when Abi is talking to the King, they end up kissing. Also, the new head chef proves unpopular with the rest of the staff.
6	"Episode Six"			18 February 2008
After an intruder breaks into Princess Eleanor’s bedroom, she and her office move from Clarence House to Buckingham Palace. Simon then moves into Abi’s office, and discovers that she is the palace servant writing a ‘tell all’ book. While putting on a brave front, Eleanor secretly is deeply disturbed by the intruder, especially after he kills himself, as she did not return his love for her. Meanwhile, Abi offers her resignation after kissing the King. He refuses it and says they should continue as before. Alice tells Abi that she loves Richard and the public reaction to her friendship with the King is very positive. At the gay wedding of one of the Palace servants, Alice kisses Richard, who says he does not love her. Alice believes that Richard and Abi love each other.
7	"Episode Seven"	Chris Lang	Maurice Phillips	25 February 2008
Richard tells Abi that he loves her, and the are just about to kiss when they are interrupted. At her 18th birthday party, Princess Isabelle gives a speech damning the Monarchy and calling for a republic. This speech is filmed by a friend and ends up on the Internet. Isabelle then disappears and after a few days the Palace questions her mental health. She responds by doing an interview with the News of the World. Soon after the Palace track her down, and the family doctor diagnosis Acute Anxiety Syndrome (AAS). After being persuaded by Richard, Isabelle agrees to get treatment at a hospital. Meanwhile, Simon shows Princess Eleanor Abi’s manuscript. Eleanor then tells Abi she will show it to the King unless she tells she tells her all of Richard’s secrets.
8	"Episode Eight"	Tom Grieves	Maurice Phillips	3 March 2008
Princess Eleanor tells her priest, who will be crowning the King, that Queen Charlotte had an affair 25 years ago, which might question Richard’s paternity. The priest then informs Sir Iain, and soon the entire Palace knows. Charlotte confesses to Richard that she did have an affair, but knows that he is legitimate. Meanwhile, Abi continues to be threatened by Eleanor and Simon, so confesses to Richard about the book and tells him about Eleanor’s plans to become Queen. He then has an argument with Eleanor and, following a DNA test proving he is the rightful king, says after the Coronation he will send her to a remote island for six months to ‘recover’ from her illness. Eleanor then sacks Major Brooks. After he is crowned, Richard and Abi, who has given back the advance for the book, tell each other they still love each other and she persuades him to give their relationship a go.

[edit] Reception

Prior to the broadcast of the series the pressure group Mediawatch UK called it "tawdry and offensive", suggesting that viewers would confuse the scripted television characters with the real British Royal Family. Lord St John of Fawsley called it "very near to the bone" and Penny Junor, the biographer of Charles, Prince of Wales, suggested ITV is exploiting the royal family by presenting fiction as fact.^[10] The Guardian previewed it as one of the top 50 shows (including film, theatre and television) to watch over the Christmas period.^[11]

After the first episode aired, Nancy Banks-Smith said in The Guardian that The Palace "is the TV equivalent of balloon modelling. It feels like being shot to death with popcorn." She also said that "I never fail to be amazed when decent actors - Walter, Marsden, Cranitch, Shrapnel - bob up in tosh like this."^[12] Andrew Billen said in The Times "I am delighted that, as with The Palace, the channel is setting before us something other than a grim regional detective or a comedy drama about suburban adultery. The Palace inhabits an incredible world all of its own. In that respect it is believable: the real palace undoubtedly does, too."^[13] James Walton for The Daily Telegraph meanwhile said that for "sheer weirdness" there "was no match at all for The Palace".^[14] Keith Watson wrote in the Metro said that The Palace pitched itself just right, its tongue-in-cheek study of a faction-riven upstairs clan contrasting with the bitching and backbiting of the downstairs footmen." He concluded his review by saying "Much of The Palace may be playing for laughs but it promises a sting in its blue-blooded tale".^[15]

The day after the series ended, Keith Watson in The Metro said "I know I’m in a minority here, but I shall miss the Dynasty-style antics of King Rich and his nemesis Princess Eleanor, with Rupert Evans and Sophie Winkleman top hole as scheming royal siblings." Watson also said it looks "like curtains" for the series and called it a victim of "ITV1’s ratings-crazy drama cull".^[16]

In April 2008, ITV announced that The Palace had been axed, due to low viewing figures.^[2] The last episode had been watched by 3.1 million people.^[2]

[edit] Broadcast in other countries

In Australia, Channel Seven premiered The Palace on 29 April 2008 at 10.30pm. Due to very low ratings, it was bumped to 11.30pm for the remainder of the series. Canada's Super Channel began a weekly airing of the series on 2 June 2008.^[17]

[edit] DVD releases

The Palace was released on DVD in the UK (Region 2) on 17 March 2008.^[18]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• The Palace at Company Pictures