Lost Empires is a 1986 television miniseries adaptation of J. B. Priestley's 1965 novel of the same name and starred Colin Firth, John Castle and Laurence Olivier. Produced by Granada Television, it was shown as a serial, and premiered on the UK's ITV network between 24 October and 5 December 1986.
I love this television series. It's one of the things I would have never seen, never even knew existed, without this Colin Firth fixation and I'm very grateful I've gone down this rabbit hole. This is a coming-of-age story set on the eve of the Great War, spanning less than a year in this man's life, but he gets a whole lifetime of experiences.
Colin is Richard Herncastle, invited by his Uncle Nick to join his magic show on as a "dogs body" as he travels around the country with a variety show. There are a wide variety of other acts, including song-and-dance acts and a couple of comedians, and it isn't long before he joins his uncle's show with the "racing bicycle" trick. Since this is 1913 and British, they're in brown-face when on stage because Nick performs as "Ganga Dun" or some such thing, but it's suitable for the theme (that theme being, well, lost empires).
Colin is exceedingly endearing in his performance as Richard, and he has to be because this is fully his story complete with a voice-over narration, as though this were a memoir he is reciting to us. He gets tangled up in various love affairs and at any point he could have seemed like a cad, but he never does. Of the actress Julie Blaine, Richard reflects "We were friends in our mutual sexual obsession..." and there's nothing in the script or in Colin's performance to undermine that.
Richard also has a very complicated relationship with Nick's magic assistant (and sometimes lover) who he feels a "chummy" regard for and cares deeply for but is not romantically or sexually attracted to--of course, she is romantically and sexually attracted to him and doesn't understand why he doesn't want her when she's offering himself--of course he is always kind and a gentleman with her which "makes it worse" for her.
Actually, the sexual and gender politics in play in this series are fascinating. Really, it's about a young man who only knows his mother going out into the world for the first time and encountering a wide variety of women and learning the nuances of their lives, their thoughts and feelings, and coming to grips with a whole spectrum of gray between the black and white views he was raised with (and his uncle still espouses). None of the women are one-dimensional, they are complex characters with their charms and their flaws and their bad choices and good choices and moments when they aren't given any choice. There are times when Richard is confused, embarrassed, frustrated, but there's a certain calmness in how Colin plays him that makes it even more powerful when he DOES react in anger (and it's just once and it is VERY justified.
There are seven episodes in all (actually 8 really because the first episode is two-in-one), and I wish there were at least 7 more. I could have happily stayed on this journey, even though at times it is ugly, and frightening. Besides Colin there are some truly great performances, including John Castle as his Uncle Nick, and Laurence Olivier as a washed-up comedian, no longer getting laughs and slowly losing his mind.
Series Review 10/10--I freaking loved this series. I love it. It's so well done. I highly recommend watching it. It's available on Youtube and I might try to see if I can hunt it down on DVD as well because it's definitely something I'll want to watch again and maybe even return to years from now.
Colin Beauty Review 10/10--it's hard to actually summarize how gorgeous Colin is in this film. I am particularly pleased with all the eye makeup he wears when he's performing in the magic show.
Here is a #330 gifs of Colin Firth in Lost Empires. All of these gifs were made by me from scratch, so do not redistribute or claim them as your own. If using, please give this a like and reblog!
sketch practice(still in progress): colin firth from 'lost empires'. since I am a merlahad/firthstrong trash, it may end up as a crossover fanart work 😂
