Birdsong (TV miniseries)
| Birdsong | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Written by |
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| Directed by | Philip Martin |
| Starring | |
| Composer(s) | Nicholas Hooper |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 2 |
| Production | |
| Running time | Episode 1 – 84 minutes Episode 2 – 82 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC One (United Kingdom) |
| Picture format | 16:9 1080i |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original release | 22 January – 29 January 2012 |
| External links | |
| BBC microsite for Birdsong | |
Birdsong is a two-part 2012 television drama, based on the 1993 war novel Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks. It stars Eddie Redmayne as Stephen Wraysford and Clémence Poésy as Isabelle Azaire and was directed by Philip Martin based on a screenplay by Abi Morgan.
The adaptation was produced by Working Title Films for the BBC and PBS's Masterpiece. It premiered in January 2012 in the United Kingdom and in April 2012 in the United States.
The television adaptation differs from the novel in many respects, completely omitting the section set in the 1970s.
The story is told in flashbacks, with Stephen Wraysford's (Eddie Redmayne) experiences in World War I alternating with his memories of his affair with Isabelle Azaire (Clémence Poésy), a young married woman whom he met before the war when he was staying in her husband's house to learn about business. Stephen and Isabelle run away together when their affair is discovered by her husband, but she leaves Stephen after a short time. Stephen recalls these events when he is badly wounded as a result of an encounter with German sappers when he and his own men accompany the British tunnellers of the Royal Engineers underground. Left for dead, he is discovered and saved by Jack Firebrace (Joseph Mawle), a working-class man with whom Stephen has previously felt little empathy.
In 1916, Stephen is reunited with Isabelle as a result of a chance meeting with her sister Jeanne (Marie-Josée Croze), shortly before his battalion goes "over the top" in the Battle of the Somme. Upset by the encounter, he takes his fellow-officer, Weir (Richard Madden), to a prostitute, but neither man is able to obtain satisfaction. Weir plays a much smaller role than he does in the novel. During the battle, Stephen is again wounded and loses many of his men; Firebrace and Weir are among the survivors.
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