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| White Heat | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Paula Milne |
| Directed by | John Alexander |
| Starring | Lindsay Duncan Michael Kitchen |
| No. of episodes | 6 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Kate Bartlett Paula Milne Lucy Richer |
| Producer | Elinor Day |
| Cinematography | Matt Gray BSC |
| Editor | Roy Sharman |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC Two |
| Release | 8 March (2012-03-08) – 12 April 2012 (2012-04-12) |
White Heat is a British television drama series, written byPaula Milne, and first broadcast onBBC Two from 8 March to 12 April 2012. The series follows seven students who first meet in a London,Tufnell Park[1] flatshare in 1965 and consists of six one-hour episodes, set in 1965, 1967, 1973, 1979, 1982 and 1990.
The series was trailed inRadio Times with an article titledOur Friends in the South, an echo ofPeter Flannery's 1996 television seriesOur Friends in the North. Milne herself rejected a direct comparison, however; "Our Friends in the North was absolutely seminal. But it didn't have a lot to do with women, and it didn't have a lot to do with race, and it didn't have a lot to do with sexual politics." Milne, who had experience of both theCentral School of Art and Design and theRoyal College of Art in the mid-1960s, said her experience most tallied with that of the character Lilly (MyAnna Buring).
"The mix of the personal and the political is framed by a flash-forward to the present day, in which the house is revisited by the former friends after one of their number dies and makes them theexecutors of his or her will."[2] The identity of the dead character is withheld until the final episode.
Milne has said she thinks its theme is "the disappointment of the Left. [...] Edward, Jack's father, says to Jack during the 1979 episode (whenMargaret Thatcher is elected), that 'this is the end of consensus politics and it's you guys who opened the door and let her in. Just remember that'. Fucking right they did. Excuse my French."[2]
The title of the sixth episode comes from the nickname for the Japanese forestAokigahara.
| Character | Young | Old |
|---|---|---|
| Lily | MyAnna Buring | Lindsay Duncan |
| Jack Walsh | Sam Claflin | Michael Kitchen |
| Alan | Lee Ingleby | Paul Copley |
| Orla | Jessica Gunning | Sorcha Cusack |
| Charlotte Pew | Claire Foy | Juliet Stevenson |
| Jay | Reece Ritchie | Ramon Tikaram |
| Victor | David Gyasi | Hugh Quarshie |
Although notionally set inTufnell Park,[1] exterior shots of the house were filmed in Avenue Park Road,Tulse Hill,[3] on the other side of London. The property has subsequently been refurbished, and as of April 2011 was for sale at £1.6 million.[4]
