God’s Revolution

Nov 7, 2024 2:50 PM

Author:Don Taylor,Full Cast,Bernard Hepton,Nigel Anthony,Christian Rodska,Graham Blockley

God’s Revolution

An epic 12-part drama about the events leading up to, and following, the execution of King Charles I

'Classy writing... wonderfully crisp, with a brilliant cast' The Spectator

England, 1647. Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army has routed the Royalists, and the King, having fled to Scotland, has been ransomed, sent back across the border and imprisoned. It seems the war is over, but there is trouble ahead. Parliament wants to disband the army and install its own militia - an act that looks, to Cromwell's loyal soldiers, like outright betrayal.

As dissent grows within the ranks, agitators such as Francis White and John Reynolds, and leading Leveller John Lilburne, step up to speak for the common man. What began with a dispute over army demobilisation soon becomes far more, and a radical faction arises demanding freedom, equality and power to the people. But for Cromwell and his Commander-in-Chief, Thomas Fairfax, this is a challenge to Parliament's authority, and smacks of revolution. Facing a schism within the army, Cromwell is torn - but when the King escapes from custody, he and his troops have a new threat to deal with...

Meanwhile, the women at home have troubles of their own. Clever, independent Penelope White is subject to the whims of her intransigent father, who wants her to marry a man of his choosing. And Lilburne's wife, Elizabeth, must risk her life each time she smuggles forbidden political papers into his cell in the Tower of London. As their men prepare to fight once more, what does the future hold for them?

Set between the pivotal years of 1647 and 1649, this classic Civil War drama stars Bernard Hepton as Cromwell, Nigel Anthony as Fairfax, Graham Blockey as Francis White, Christian Rodska as Lilburne, William Eedle as Charles I, Deborah Makepeace as Penelope and Maureen O'Brien as Elizabeth.

Cast and credits

Written by Don Taylor

God's Revolution

Lord General Fairfax - Nigel Anthony

John Church - Eric Allan

Francis White - Graham Blockey

Charles I/Lieut. Colonel Jackson/Cornet Denne - William Eedle

Oliver Cromwell - Bernard Hepton

Stephen White - David March

John Reynolds - Kim Wall

John Lilburne - Christian Rodska

James Thompson - Simon Cuff

Miles Sindercombe/Col. Rainsborough/Sir William Waller/Morrison - John Baddeley

Corporal Perkins/Silent soldier/Simeon/Joseph/Winstanley/Brother Gerard - Steve Hodson

Colonel James/Lockyer/Major General Skippon/Huntingdon - Peter Craze

Edmund White/Major Gooday/Col. Scroop - Cornelius Garrett

Penelope White - Deborah Makepeace

Elizabeth Lilburne - Maureen O'Brien

William Thompson/Captain Musket - Anthony Jackson

Commissary Ireton - Bill Wallis

Edward Sexby/Col. Whalley - John Hartoch

Lady Anne Fairfax - Lin Sagovsky

Cornet Joyce/Everard - Jonathan Nibbs

Betty - Zelah Clarke

Mrs Cromwell/Martha- June Barrie

John Lilburne - Christian Rodska

Beggar woman - June Tobin

John Wildman - Stephen Rashbrook

Robin - Elizabeth Lindsay

Isaac - Christopher Asante

Capt. Hatton - Alan Coveney

Pride - Norman Eshley

Mary Overton - Barbara Kellermann

Mrs Chidley - Ellen Dryden

Barry - Paul Sirr

Directed by Shaun MacLoughlin and Ronald Mason

Psalms arranged by Blaise Compton

First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 7 October-23 December 1988

Reviews

[A] preposterously entertaining history of the postwar country house... reading it is rather like leafing through an old leather-bound Smythson address book whose well-connected owner has helpfully added waspish notes, gossip and the odd family tree. In other words, it's heaven.

—— Rachel Cooke , Observer

Adrian Tinniswood's rollicking study perfectly captures the combination of decadence, pathos and brazen cheek that kept the English country house alive when it faced disaster.

—— John Walsh , Sunday Times

[A] brilliant new history of the country house since 1945... Tinniswood tells...[the] story superbly, his racy anecdotes mined not just from the usual memoirs, but from a studious trawl of endless local papers.

—— Marcus Binney , Daily Telegraph

Beautifully orchestrated... a compulsive read, deliciously voyeuristic and yet a triumph of meticulous social and cultural scholarship.

—— Country Life

A vastly entertaining account of the crisis that befell England's stately homes in the decades immediately after the war.

—— Simon Heffer , Daily Telegraph, *Books of the Year*

Tinniswood...[is] an erudite historian of country-house life in all its anecdote-worthy vagaries.

—— Miranda Seymour , Financial Times

As this beautifully illustrated volume shows, the 1950s and the 1960s saw a renaissance as rock concerts replaced hunt balls and the doors of ancient family seats were thrown open to paying customers. Tinniswood chronicles it all in lively detail.

—— Nick Rennison , Daily Mail

By turns warm, sympathetic, sly and analytical, Tinniswood examines the complex history of the post-war country house with skill, grace, clarity - and charity. A triumph.

—— Judith Flanders

Tinniswood's meticulously researched and entertaining study...provides a brilliant insight into a much overlooked period. Few authors can combine serious social history with the sometimes sad and often hilarious narratives of country-house life in the way that Tinniswood can.

—— Jeremy Musson

[A] highly enjoyable, gossipy read with a gasp on every page; a must for the bedside tables of every guest bedroom, and every stately home gift shop.

—— Mary S. Lovell

Nobody is better qualified to tell this tale of loss and transformation, in all its human complexity, than Adrian Tinniswood. A master of the sources, he brings the past to life through his vivid writing and seemingly bottomless fund of stories.

—— Clive Aslet

This is a rollicking book.

—— James Stourton , Literary Review

Tinniswood's springy prose is clear-eyed when it comes to analysing the self-interest that lies at the heart of the country house life... [and his] eye for a juicy anecdote provides the raw material for the book's 20 chapters.

—— Oliver Cox , Apollo

It is a joy to know that so many of these wonderful buildings have been saved, and to learn about them through this book.

—— Anne de Courcy , Spectator

From the Beatles to lions in safari parks, stately homes were saved by some unlikely samaritans, as Tinniswood charts in this brilliant social history of great houses after the Second World War

—— Daily Telegraph

Intriguing, informative and entertaining.

—— Jane Shilling , Daily Mail

An engaging book that can be read with pleasure

—— Susan Doran , BBC History Magazine

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