Nineteen Eighty-Four (1954)

Country of Origin: UK
Date(s) of Broadcast: 12 December 1954
Number of Seasons: N/A
Total Number of Episodes: 1
Average Episode Running Times: 120 mins
Format: bw
Sound: mono

CREDITS

PRODUCTION
Production Company: BBC
Producer: Rudolph Cartier

SCRIPT
Screenplay: Nigel Kneale
Novel: George Orwell

DIRECTION
Director: Rudolph Cartier

MUSIC
Music / Conductor: John Hotchkis

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special Effects: Bernard Wilkie, Jack Kline

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Designer: Barry Learoyd

CAST
Peter Cushing (Winston Smith)
Yvonne Mitchell (Julia)
André Morell (O'Brien)
Arnold Diamond (Emmanuel Goldstein)
Donald Pleasence (Syme)
Campbell Gray (Parsons)
Hilda Fenemore (Mrs Parsons)
Pamela Grant (Parsons girl)
Keith Davis (Parsons boy)
Janet Barrow (woman supervisor)
Norman Osborne (1st youth)
Tony Lyons (2nd youth)
Malcolm Knight (3rd youth)
John Baker (1st man)
Victor Platt (2nd man)
Van Boolen (barman)
Wilfrid Brambell (old man / thin prisoner)
Leonard Sachs (Mr Charrington)
Sydney Bromley (waiter)
Janet Joye (canteen woman)
Harry Lane (guard)
Richard Williams (narrator)
Roy Oxley (face of Big Brother (uncredited))

PLOT SUMMARY

The near future: Britain is now Air-Strip One, part of the power-bloc Oceania, constantly at war with its neighbours and ruled over by the omniscient Big Brother. Despite constant surveillance and the attentions of the 'Thought Police' some of the populace try to resist - one of them is Winston Smith who is soon captured and exposed to the horrors of Room 101...

CAPSULE REVIEW

The best screen version of Orwell's dystopian nightmare. Cushing is on top form as the rebellious Winston Smith and the scene with the rats is truly terrifying.

UK
Television Distributor: BBC

TIMELINE

1954
December
12: UK - television broadcast (on BBC)
16: UK - television broadcast (on BBC))

1977
August
3: UK - television broadcast (on BBC 2)

1994
July
1: UK - television broadcast (on BBC2)

2003
June
14: UK - television broadcast (on BBC3)

LINKS

FOOTAGE INCLUDED IN
1984: A Personal View of Orwell's Nineteen Eighty Four (1983)
Peter Cushing: A One-Way Ticket to Hollywood (1989)

SEE ALSO
1984 (1956)
Nineteen Eighty Four (1965)
Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)
Theatre 625: The World of George Orwell: 1984 (1965)

REFERENCES

MAGAZINES

Cult TV vol.1 no.1 August 1997 p.65 (UK)
illustrated short article

Dagens Nyheter 14 December 1954 p.12 (Sweden)
article (1984 i TV spred skräck över England)

Journal of Popular Film and Television vol.30 no.3 (Autumn 2002) pp.158-165 (USA)
illustrated article ("Bring Something Back" - The strange career of Professor Bernard Quatermass by Dave Robinson and Nick Cooper)

Playback (1995) p.25 (UK)
illustrated short article

Sight and Sound vol.53 no.2 (Spring 1984) pp.111-114 (UK)
illustrated article (News From Oceania by Jill Forbes)

The Veteran no.105 (December 2004) pp.6-8 (UK)
illustrated article

KEYWORDS

the future, totalitarianism, television, big brother, martial law, dictatorships, surveillance

Last Updated: 1 January, 2009