Last night saw the first part of the new Stephen Poliakoff drama, The Lost Prince. I’ve enjoyed his work since I first saw Caught on a Train (repeated tonight on BBC4) some years ago. He’s always though provoking, and has interesting characters and subject matter.
In this case, about a little known royal prince who was epileptic and autistic, and was therefore kept out of the public eye by his parents, George V and Queen Mary. The two child actors playing Prince John were exceptional, as was the rest of the cast.
The second and final part is next Sunday, but in the meantime, BBC4 are running a whole season of Poliakoff’s work.
Last night was Bloody Kids, which was a gritty look at late 70s teenage life on a Saturday night in Southend. I hadn’t seen it before, and since it was introduced as a former Play for Today, I was surprised at the quality of the film stock. The credits at the end also suggested ITC involvement and British Lion, so I would say it had a cinema release at some point and was shot on 35mm. I could be wrong but that doesn’t seem like a BBC production to me. Directed by Stephen Frears too!