The Lost Prince [2003] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

Average customer rating:

Sad story about Prince John... George V youngest Son and Child.......Wonderfully made Production!!

A moving, quality drama!

The Lost Prince

Spectacular

Still here, in memory...

The Lost Prince [2003] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Starring: Daniel Williams (IV) , Matthew Thomas , Brock Everitt-Elwick , Rollo Weeks , and Gina McKee
Director: Stephen Poliakoff
Manufacturer: BBC Warner
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

All Drama | Drama | Categories | DVD | Video
Period | Drama | Categories | DVD | Video
All Children's DVD | Children's DVD | Categories | DVD | Video
Region 1 | Special Features | DVD | Video
DVD | Format (binding_browse-bin) | Refinements | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Stephen Poliakoff's Shooting The Past (BBC) [1999]

Stephen Poliakoff's Perfect Strangers [2001]

Stephen Poliakoff's Gideon's Daughter

Stephen Poliakoff's Caught On A Train [1980]

Stephen Poliakoff's Friends And Crocodiles

ASIN: B00015HXDG
Release Date: 2004-10-26

Amazon.co.uk Review

A marvellous reinvention of the costume epic, The Lost Prince is Stephen Poliakoff's absorbing study of the turbulent years leading up to and during the First World War, seen through the percipient eyes of a scarcely remembered royal child. Extensively researched, impeccably cast, beautifully filmed, written and directed by Poliakoff himself with masterly economy and restraint, this is a timely reminder that original, intelligent drama can work as prime time entertainment while appealing on multiple levels; and there isn't an escaped soap star in sight.

Johnnie, the prince kept hidden away by his parents Queen Mary and George V for fear that his epileptic fits and idiosyncratic ways might draw unwelcome attention, is not presented as a tragic figure. His view of the great events which shatter his family and change the world forever is direct and uncluttered. Poliakoff celebrates his apartness--and that of all children who are different--as a force for good, without judging the standards, protocols and contemporary medical theories which kept him on the periphery of society. The series makes the most of its well-chosen locations, and from Johnnie's garden at Sandringham to the assassination of the Russian imperial family, it maintains a hypnotic and elegiac quality The acting is first-rate, too. Gina McKee is profoundly moving as Johnnie's devoted nurse Lalla; and Miranda Richardson's Mary is an extraordinary performance, the controlled façade of single-minded focus occasionally fracturing to reveal a flash of humanity. This production is exquisite in every respect.

On the DVD: The Lost Prince is presented in its original transmission format of 16:9. The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, enhanced by Adrian Johnston's haunting score is crystal clear. Extras include Poliakoff's revealing commentary, with occasional input from Johnston and designer John-Paul Kelly, and a couple of documentary fragments which show the production in progress and place it in context with the rest of Poliakoff's work. --Piers Ford

Customer Reviews:

Sad story about Prince John... George V youngest Son and Child.......Wonderfully made Production!!.......2007-07-11

I have yet to buy this DVD however,I caught this two part production this past February on the ABC Channel in Australia. This is a true story about Prince John, King George V son (the current Queen's Uncle) who had Epilepsy and at the time they believed Prince John had Asperger syndrome which is a condition on the autistic spectrum.
The movie tells about his condition and his faithful nanny Charlotte Bill, known in the family as "Lalla." The production has other historical facts in the movie. Tells why and how the royal family changed from the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to the House of Windsor during WWI. Also captures how WWI began and the execution of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his family in 1918.
This is a moving and heart touching production that will bring a tear to your eye.
If you are at all interested in the royals and/or just like historical production you will enjoy this movie. It is also a family friendly production. Enjoyed by all ages alike.

A moving, quality drama!.......2006-01-23

Anyone having visited Sandringham Church in Norfolk, and seeing the grave of Prince John have wondered about his short life. This drama stunningly recreates the time he grew up in and the ordeals and illness he had to deal with; the possible epilepsy and learning diffculties.

The drama is top quality! The scripts, costumes, settings and casting were all brilliant. The commentary on this DVD is a fascinating feature; with the director taking the viewer through the two parts, not just with on-screen information, but also huge amounts of historical information that he researched and why he changed certain things and adapted pieces of history in the way he chose.

The acting is of the highest order; in particular, Miranda Richardson is fantastic as Queen Mary, and Gina McKee is brilliant as Prince John's nanny Lalla. There are excellent performances by Tom Hollander as George V and Michael Gambon as Edward VII also.
This two part drama will fascinate you and move you to tears, as the young John battles on with his life, mostly unaware of his disabilities. Stunning piece!

The Lost Prince.......2006-01-20

Oustanding!.....an excellent insight into a turbulent world through the eyes of a young prince (son of George V and Queen Mary). What makes it more intriguing is the fact that this poor prince (Johnnie) is kept hidden from away the public and aristorcracy alike due to his severe fits of epilepsy. This was, at the time, not deemed fitting for a member of the Royal Family. Excellent perfomances from two of Britains greatest acting talents with Miranda Richardson as Queen Mary and Gina Mckee as Johnnie's devoted nurse Lalla. Another superb production from Stephen Poliakoff and the BBC......and, might I add, a bit of a tear-jerker (well it moved me to tears).

Spectacular.......2005-02-15

The Lost Prince is a spectuacular and moving drama charting the life of the little-known Prince John, son of King George V and Queen Mary. We see John and his brother George growing up in the Imperial splendour of Edward VII's court and see the changes that take place during the First World War. John, an epileptic, is kept away from the public eye with his devoted nurse, Lalla (portrayed wonderfully by Gina McKee). John is increasingly isolated from the world, and when the war begins his parents have no time for him. Only his brother George, and his adoring grandmother Queen Alexandra (Bibi Andersson - a wonderful and accurate portrayel) remember him. His parents, King George V and Queen Mary, are very stressed and are forced to pretty much abandon him. As Lalla struggles to remind them that John is a real prince, the Romanovs are murdured and the war in Europe ends. I challenge anyone to watch this and not feel sad at the ending. The drama had wonderful actors - Miranda Richardson is the very embodiment of Queen Mary, Tom Hollander is convincing as George V, and the contrast between him and his father, Edward VII (Michael Gambdon) is clear from the start. Great Stuff!

Still here, in memory..........2004-11-24

This is a very touching tale of a lost 'footnote' from history - some histories of the British royal family come with handy genealogy charts, showing the progress of royals through the ages in graphic format. Often, the younger children, the 'also rans' of the royal story, are left off the charts, unless they attained fame some other way, or unless they married well. For those royal children who died in infancy or childhood, history is most unkind - they aren't even in the footnotes or indices. Such is often the case for young Prince John - born with a disability that presented like epilepsy, he was (according to the custom of the time) kept out of the public eye. Being rather low on the pecking order, he likely never would have attracted much attention, but with his disability, in a world that did not quite know how to regard those with disabilities, he was indeed an outcast, however royal.

The teleplay shows an interplay of the private life of Prince John and his caregivers, particularly the deeply devoted servant and nanny, Lalla, and the public life of the royal family, as their lives became increasingly complex and involved in public duties due to the outbreak of the first world war. The private life concentrates both on John and Lalla, as well as John and George, another of the younger royal children, close in age to John. George went through the typical royal upbringing of boarding schools with a military emphasis; he was as out-of-place in that world as John was in the stuffy, rigidly-controlled royal world. The camaraderie between George and John was touchingly portrayed in two different age brackets - one of early childhood (Daniel Williams playing John, and Brock-Everitt-Elwick playing George), and one of early adolescence (Matthew Thomas playing Johh, and Rollo Weeks playing George). John, with his lack of inhibitions and oversized features (part of his disability) would occasionally make a truthful-if-not-quite-diplomatic statement, sometimes to a visiting royal, sometimes to the Prime Minister or other such dignitary.

John's expression in life was done through art, music, and physical movements and expression. He made paintings that showed a rather unique way of looking at the world, often over-emphasising details (such as crowns). He also cared passionately for his gardens, working for hours at a time among the flowers and other plants. Lalla (lovingly portrayed by Gina McKee) encouraged him, seeing in him more substance that doctors could with their brief examinations, and more than could his own parents, who rarely exhibited affection to John (or each other, or anyone else).

It was a tense time in the world. King George V (Tom Hollander) and his wife, the regal and inflexible Queen Mary (Miranda Richardson) tried desperately to navigate through a world becoming distinctly unfriendly toward royalty; just a generation prior, their family through Victoria's connections reigned in almost every major and many minor countries in Europe, which at that time through colonialism dominated the world; by the end of World War II, few monarchies were left, and those that were had no power or authority of their own. One of the mistakes of the monarchs, brought out in this teleplay, was the assumption that they still had power. In actual fact, they rarely even had influence.

The scenes with the Russian royal family are interesting to note the similarities and differences between the ideas of royalty; the political leaders, too, are portrayed in somewhat flat but interesting characterisations. Yet, as one other commentator has mentioned, the truly outstanding moment of the drama comes near the end, when John gets to give his performance for the family, and causes the family to reflect on their fortunes - after all, they were still there, silly. Unlike the Russian royals, dead from the revolutionaries; unlike the German and Austrian royals, driven from office by the war; unlike countless other royal persons throughout Europe, dead or in exile from the aftermath, the British royal family (with its newly-minted British name) survived intact, if not in power. One does indeed doubt the historicity of John's final performance for the family, but one can hope that it, or something like it, did indeed occur.

The sets, costumes, and music are very well crafted and appropriately selected for this teleplay. This is a programme I shall revisit again and again. Despite all life's troubles, after all, we're still here, silly.

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