Barbara Taylor Bradford's Emma Harte Saga: A WOMAN OF SUBSTANCE(1985), HOLD THE DREAM (1986) and TO BE THE BEST (1992)
Honestly, since I remembered the many hours I watched this mini series as a teenager, I just opted to read some cliff notes of the book and the mini series to remind me of it...of them. I remember the other parts so well, but the other parts are so vague. Since I just recently watched HOLD THE DREAM and TO BE THE BEST, my conclusion is that if you love someone, don't let decades pass and wait for your sunset years to let them know how much you love them. A lot of people are not as fortunate to reach their sunset years, and if you die before that, that means you would have had forever held your peace.
That's the case of Blackie O'Neill played in this mini series by LIAM NEESON, who also plays the older Blackie opposite Deborah Kerr.
(I wrote the ones below before this one) The problem with book series or sequels is that you fall in love with the characters and have a light feeling after the book ends only to find out that love would die on the next book. I know in life not everyone has one great love, and most of us experience excruciating pain and misery before we find "the one" if we are meant to do so, so maybe Ms. Bradford just wants a little reality in her books of fiction, even when the readers at times want to escape that reality once in a while.
Harte's is obviously Harrods in this TV series, because Harrods allowed them to use their chain of stores, including the lettering (signages, logos, etc.). The book and the TV series are almost the same except for the year and some minor details.
- Jenny Seagrove as Young Emma Harte
- Deborah Kerr as Emma Harte
- Barry Bostwick as Major Paul McGill
- Diane Baker as Laura O'Neill
- Liam Neeson as Blackie O'Neill
- Miranda Richardson as Paula McGill Amory
- Peter Chelsom as Edwin Fairley
- John Duttine as Joe Lowther
- Peter Egan as Adam Fairley
- George Baker as Bruce McGill
- Mick Ford as Frank Harte
- Christopher Gable as Arthur Ainsley
- Christopher Guard as Gerald Fairley
- Dominic Guard as Winston Harte
- Del Henney as Jack Harte
- Gayle Hunnicutt as Olivia Wainwright
- Nicola Pagett as Adele Fairley
- Joris Stuyck as David Kallinski
- Meg Wynn Owen as Elizabeth Harte
- Megs Jenkins as Mrs. Turner
- Harry Landis as Abraham Kallinski
- John Mills as Henry Rossiter
- Gayle Hunnicutt as Olivia Wainwright
- Barry Morse as Murgatroyd
(source)
Paula Fairley, now head of the Harte chain of department stores, has taken on the burden of preserving Emma's legacy. However, she suffers dissent within her extended family, in particular from her devious cousin Jonathan Ainsley.
Her marriage to Jim Fairley is unhappy, leading her into the arms of her childhood sweetheart, Shane O'Neill (Stephen Collins), grandson of Blackie O'Neill (Liam Neeson). Struggling to prove herself in a male dominated world, just like her grandmother before her, Paula suffers heartache and loss that mirror the life of her grandmother. Emma's request that Paula hold her dream is what drives Paula to fight and overcome personal tragedy and come out on top, so as to save the Harte name for the next generation.- Wikipedia
Her marriage to Jim Fairley is unhappy, leading her into the arms of her childhood sweetheart, Shane O'Neill (Stephen Collins), grandson of Blackie O'Neill (Liam Neeson). Struggling to prove herself in a male dominated world, just like her grandmother before her, Paula suffers heartache and loss that mirror the life of her grandmother. Emma's request that Paula hold her dream is what drives Paula to fight and overcome personal tragedy and come out on top, so as to save the Harte name for the next generation.- Wikipedia
First episode date: 27 October 1986
Directed by Don Sharp
Written by Barbara Taylor Bradford (novel and script)
Executive producers: Harry R. Sherman, Ian Warren, Robert Bradford
LIAM NEESON reprises his role as Blackie O'Neill, but now appears as a grandfather to STEPHEN COLLINS, someone who is four years older than he is in real life. He does mighty fine job convincing everyone he's older than DEBORAH KERR. A true thespian, indeed.
Cast:
This mini series is more connected to the mini series A WOMAN OF SUBSTANCE than the TV version of TO BE THE BEST. In this version Shane O'Neill played by handsome and charismatic STEPHEN COLLINS has an American Accent and Paula, JENNY SEAGROVE has the English accent. In TBTB, Shane has the English accent and Paula has the American accent, as played by LINDSAY WAGNER.
In this second installment, the viewers had an easy time understanding why Paula could fall for Shane. We felt every emotion Shane fell and wondered why Paula never knew this before.
We would also meet characters we would love to hate like Jonathan Ainsley played by a person with an angelic face, DOMINIC JEPHCOTT, who looks like Jeremy Irons' son, Max. Even with a face like that, he was able to convince us that he Jonathan is lethal. We would also meet Ross Nelson as played by the handsome JAMES BROLIN, plus many others.
Little by little we would find out about Jim Fairley and his plot to get the Fairley riches back to his side of the family through his fraternal twins. We would fall in love with Shane more.
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TO BE THE BEST(1992) PART 1
TO BE THE BEST 1992 PART 2
The Barbara Taylor Bradford trilogy that began with "A Woman of Substance", ends with this epic tale. Paula O' Neill feuds with her cousins as she fights to save her grandmother's business, and struggles to salvage her marriage.-imdb
Directed by Tony Wharmby
Written by Barbara Taylor Bradford (novel), Elliott Baker (teleplay) (as Elliot Baker)
TO BE THE BEST 1992 PART 2
The Barbara Taylor Bradford trilogy that began with "A Woman of Substance", ends with this epic tale. Paula O' Neill feuds with her cousins as she fights to save her grandmother's business, and struggles to salvage her marriage.-imdb
Directed by Tony Wharmby
Written by Barbara Taylor Bradford (novel), Elliott Baker (teleplay) (as Elliot Baker)
I am copy pasting below this thing I got from imdb's To Be the Best page. My reason? It's because Emma and Blackie were supposed to go on a cruise(Hold The Dream) and it was mentioned that he was 83 and frail at that. (spoiler number 1) When he died the tombstone said he was 84. When I read this I think I was enlightened somehow:
It is unclear from the way that "Hold the Dream" was presented whether it was a mistake or not that Blackie's tombstone said that he died on 10th May 1985, aged 84. However, since Blackie was supposed to be three to four years older than Emma, and they met on or about 1905 (in the original mini-series: A Woman of Substance (1984)), when Emma was about 16-17, that would have meant that Blackie was about 19-20 in 1905, meaning his birth date would have been between 1884 and 1886, and if his date of death was in 1985, that would have made him between 99 and 101 years old. Also, Emma was supposed to be nearing her 80th birthday in "A Woman of Substance," which was supposed to be set in or about 1970, which would have matched the dates set in the story. It is not clearly stated that "Hold the Dream" was taking place directly after the events at the end of "A Woman of Substance," or several years later, but either way, the dates/ages would not have held up to close math and calendar calculations. This may have been a concession to Deborah Kerr's (born 1921) request for vanity, since she was portraying a woman of about 80, but was considerably younger, 63-64 at the time of filming "A Woman of Substance" in 1984, and 65-66 at the time of filming of "Hold the Dream" in 1985-86. In "To Be the Best," the opening scene shows Paula, now portrayed by Lindsay Wagner, placing flowers at the grave of Emma Harte, with the headstone stating "In Loving Memory of Emma Harte 1889-1970," which would again be consistent with A Woman of Substance (1984), but totally out of alignment with the dates presented in Hold the Dream (1986), which showed Blackie's headstone indicating his dates as 1901-1985, and Emma dying soon after.
"The problem with trilogies is that when one part ends in your favour, but the next part writes you off," according to someone I know.
If you are an avid Barbara Taylor Bradford reader, you would know that the Emma Harte Saga is a seven-part epic, but as for the TV universe, it is divided into three mini series. I am not quite certain if all of three mini series covered all seven books.
Among the three mini series, I think this has a different approach compared to the other two probably because the actors are different. LINDSAY WAGNER is now the slightly older Paula, and of course, our dear Emma Harte's legacy lives on through her.
Now let's go back to what my friend said. Although it is ideal that we have only one great love in our lives, most of the time we love, we lose, we stumble, fall, rise again, love again. Not everyone is as blessed as Robert and Barbara Taylor Bradford.
In this third mini series of the Emma Harte saga, Shane O'Neill as played by DAVID ROBB takes a back seat momentarily as Jack Figg takes over Paula's heart or libido because of an incident that almost took Paula's life, but thankfully was saved by the bell...or the doorknob for that matter. The timing was impeccable.
Paula also mellowed a bit here, compared to how Jenny Seagrove and Miranda Richardson had depicted her.
Does age(Paula's age, not Lindsay's) have anything to do with it?
Another complaint of my friend was the role of Anthony Hopkins. She said it was magnified. She wasn't alone in her way of thinking.
Paula also mellowed a bit here, compared to how Jenny Seagrove and Miranda Richardson had depicted her.
Does age(Paula's age, not Lindsay's) have anything to do with it?
Another complaint of my friend was the role of Anthony Hopkins. She said it was magnified. She wasn't alone in her way of thinking.
TVWeekend; Romance, Power, Greed: In the Heat, Trash Rises
Even the poster or DVD cover shows that it's Anthony and not Lindsay who is the bigger star here
- Lindsay Wagner as Paula O'Neill
- Anthony Hopkins as Jack Figg
- Stephanie Beacham as Arabella Sutton
- Christopher Cazenove as Jonathan Ainsley
- Stuart Wilson as Jack Miller
- Fiona Fullerton as Madelena O'Shea
- Gary Cady as Philip Amory
- David Robb as Shane O'Neill
- Claire Oberman as Sarah Pascal
- Christopher Blake as Sandy Barkstone
- James Saito as Tony Chiu
- Thomas Ewbank as Patrick
- Julian Fellowes as Dennis
- Rob Freeman as Harvey G. Rawson
- Rupert Bates as Burrows
- Belinda Mayne as Jill
- Robert Austin as George
- Kate Spiro as Pam
- Candy Lacy-Smith as Susan Sorrell
- Louis Roth as Elwyn Sorrell
- Moray Watson as Hunter
- Bill Reimbold as Peale
- Bill Hutchinson as Doone
- Sarah Lam as Ming
- Peter Dennis as Doctor
I like A Woman of Substance and Hold the Dream better than this one, but I can't say I hate it, but it was easier to hate Jonathan Ainsley here, as depicted by CHRISTOPHER CAZENOVE. JAMES SAITO is a very admirable actor and he played the role of a sly fox, Tony Chiu, very well.
Thankfully, the ending was what I would have wanted it to be. I missed the twins, Loren and Tessa, but Patrick as played by THOMAS EWBANK was adorable.
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