National Treasure (British TV series)

British television drama

National Treasure is a four-part 2016 British television drama by Channel 4, written by Jack Thorne.^[1] It stars Robbie Coltrane as Paul Finchley, a once successful comedian of the 1980s and early 1990s, now hosting a television quiz show. He is accused of raping several young women in the early 1990s. Julie Walters plays his wife Marie and Andrea Riseborough plays his daughter Dee.

The drama is inspired by Operation Yewtree, a police operation that resulted in the prosecution of a number of veteran TV performers.^[2][3] At the 2017 British Academy Television Awards, the series won Best Mini-Series while Coltrane was nominated for Best Actor.^[4]

Cast

• Robbie Coltrane as Paul Finchley
  • Trystan Gravelle as Young Paul
• Julie Walters as Marie Finchley, Finchley's wife
  • Lucy Speed as Young Marie
• Andrea Riseborough as Danielle "Dee" Finchley, Finchley's daughter
  • Cara Barton as Young Dee
• Tim McInnerny as Sir Karl Jenkins, Finchley's former comedy partner, now a major star
  • Ed Eales White as Young Karl
• Babou Ceesay as Jerome Sharpe, Finchley's solicitor
• Mark Lewis Jones as Gerry, investigator
• Nadine Marshall as DI Palmer
• Kate Hardie as Rebecca Thornton, alleged rape victim
  • Sarah Middleton as Young Rebecca
• Susan Lynch as Christina Farnborough, former babysitter
  • Ruby Ashbourne Serkis as Young Christina
• Graeme Hawley as Dan
• William Wright-Neblett as Billy, Dee's son
• Kerry Fox as Zoe Darwin, Finchley's barrister
• Renaee-Mya Warden as Frances
• Jeremy Swift as Simon
• Rosalind Eleazar as Georgina, a prostitute
• Vivienne Bell as Stella
• David Fleeshman as Judge
• Sam Hoare as Tom
• Ben Lloyd-Hughes as Freddie
• Ronnie Fox as Taxi Driver
• Vicki Hackett as Receptionist
• Ian Puleston-Davies as Leo
• Johann Myers as Dave
• Catherine Breeze as Nurse
• Darren Boyd as Hamish
• Lee Mack as Himself
• Robert Webb as Himself
• Alan Carr as Himself
• Frank Skinner as Himself
• Victoria Derbyshire as Herself

Plot

1. 28-day consolidated, including C4+1.

Reception

National Treasure received universal acclaim from critics, with a Metacritic rating of 81 out of 100 based on 21 reviews.^[12]

References

1. "Broadcasters find C4's National Treasure". TBI Vision. 20 March 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
2. Plunkett, John (25 August 2015). "Channel 4 launches drama inspired by Operation Yewtree investigations". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
3. Ross, Peter (6 September 2016). "'This is for the people who were abused': Robbie Coltrane on his Yewtree-inspired drama". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
4. "Bafta TV awards 2017: full list of winners". Guardian. 14 May 2017. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
5. "Weekly top 30 programmes on TV sets (July 1998 – Sept 2018)". BARB. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
6. "Julie Walters: why National Treasure isn't about Jimmy Savile". RadioTimes. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
7. "National Treasure - what time is it on TV? Episode 1 Series 1 cast list and preview".
8. "National Treasure review: Julie Walters steals the show". Digital Spy. 4 October 2016. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
9. "National Treasure - what time is it on TV? Episode 3 Series 1 cast list and preview".
10. Binding, Lucia (12 October 2016). "National Treasure comes to a shocking end as Paul Finchley's court verdict is revealed". International Business Times UK. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
11. "National Treasure delivers its verdict on Robbie Coltrane's Paul Finchley". RadioTimes. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
12. "National Treasure: Season 1". Metacritic. Retrieved 24 September 2021.

External links

• Channel 4 announcement
• National Treasure at IMDb
• National Treasure at epguides.com