Season 1 • Episode 2
LatestIn 1919, Major Brendan Archer arrives in Ireland to reunite with his fiancée, Angela Spencer. Unfortunately, the family home, The Majestic Hotel, is a decaying shadow of its former self, as is Angela. Puzzled by the changes, Archer's attentions are soon drawn to her lively friend, Sarah Devlin, a passionate Irish Nationalist. They fall in love, but the Major soon discovers some disturbing aspects about their relationship, which threatens to explode into violence, destruction, and murder.
Acting
Ian Charleson's brittle restraint against Emer Gillespie's fire
Production
The Majestic itself—a character drowning in dust and peeling wallpaper
Writing
J.G. Farrell's novel adapted with mordant wit intact
Ian Charleson
Major Brendan Archer
Ian Richardson
Edward Spencer
Emer Gillespie
Sarah Devlin
Sean Bean
Captain Bolton
Susannah Harker
Angela Spencer
Breffni McKenna
Ripon Spencer
James Ellis
Murphy
Jonathan Scott-Taylor
Berry
Jerome Flynn
Matthews
Stella McCusker
Mrs O'Neill
Denys Hawthorne
Boy O'Neill
Dervla Kirwan
Viola 'Neill
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was one of Ian Charleson's final roles; he died of AIDS-related complications in 1990, just two years after airing. His performance here carries extra weight knowing it was among his last.
The series adapts the first novel of J.G. Farrell's 'Empire Trilogy,' though it aired a decade before the Booker Prize finally recognized him—posthumously, because he drowned in 1979. The man could not catch a break.
GB
