A story of undying love—and revenge. Wuthering Heights on PBS

The PBS Pressroom publishes a press release about the upcoming broadcast of Wuthering Heights's new TV series with complete cast information and some new pictures (click on them to enlarge them, Credits: ©Mammoth Screen Production/ITV for MASTERPIECE):

A story of undying love—and revenge
Wuthering Heights
by Emily Brontë
on MASTERPIECE CLASSIC

Sundays, January 18 and 25, 2009 at 9pm ET on PBS

The fiery romance of Heathcliff and Cathy reignites in a lush new adaptation of Emily Brontë’s incendiary love story, Wuthering Heights, airing in two parts on MASTERPIECE CLASSIC, on Sundays, January 18 and 25, 2009 at 9pm ET on PBS (check local listings).

British heartthrob Tom Hardy (who will play Bill Sikes in MASTERPIECE’s new Oliver Twist, airing in February) stars as Heathcliff, the mysterious gypsy adopted as a boy by the Earnshaw family of Wuthering Heights. Newcomer Charlotte Riley is Heathcliff’s stepsister, Catherine Earnshaw (Cathy), who accepts him into her home—and heart.

Also appearing are Burn Gorman (Bleak House) as Cathy’s sadistic brother, Hindley; Andrew Lincoln (Love Actually) as the Earnshaw’s straight-laced neighbor Edgar Linton, who is also Cathy’s suitor; and Rosalind Halstead (Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason) as Edgar’s pliant younger sister, Isabella.

Set on the Yorkshire moors in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Wuthering Heights is a turbulent tale of passions unleashed across two generations, as Heathcliff rises out of a
servile position to work his fiendish will on the Earnshaws and Lintons—all out of love for the unattainable Cathy.

What’s new about this adaptation is its focus on the intertwined fates of the generation
following Heathcliff, Cathy, Edgar, Isabella, and Hindley and his wife, Frances (Sia Berkeley). These characters produce three children— Heathcliff’s son Linton (Tom Payne); Cathy’s daughter and namesake, Catherine (Rebecca Night); and Hindley’s son, Hareton (Andrew Hawley)—who grow up and figure prominently in the climax of the film.

Published in 1847, Wuthering Heights scandalized contemporary critics. A prominent
journal called it “one of the most repellant books we ever read.” The eventual revelation that the author, Ellis Bell, was in fact a pseudonym used by a country vicar’s daughter, Emily Brontë, made the consternation even more acute, since many were convinced that no woman could possibly have written such a book.

Emily turned out to be the sister of Charlotte Brontë, whose sexually charged Jane Eyre had created its own sensation just two months before the publication of Wuthering Heights.
The richly inventive Brontës included another literary sister, Anne, whose disturbing novel of marital breakdown, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, appeared in 1848—the same year that Emily tragically died at age 30 of tuberculosis, having no chance to create another masterpiece to succeed Wuthering Heights.

Wuthering Heights is a co-production of Mammoth Screen and WGBH/Boston. It is adapted by Peter Browker (Blackpool), and directed by Coky Giedroyc (Oliver Twist). The executive producers are Michele Buck, Damien Timmer, Hugo Heppell for Mammoth Screen and Rebecca Eaton for WGBH.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

Part 1 – January 18, 2009 at 9pm on PBS
The fiery Heathcliff (Tom Hardy) grows to manhood with the Earnshaw family of Wuthering Heights, tormented by his stepbrother, Hindley (Burn Gorman, Bleak House), and falling in love with his stepsister, Cathy (Charlotte Riley). But he has a rival for Cathy’s heart.

Part 2 – January 25, 2009 at 9pm on PBS
Heathcliff returns to Wuthering Heights as a rich man after a long and mysterious absence. Still pained by his love for Cathy, he sets to work wreaking revenge on two generations of those who wronged him.

Cast & credit list

Heathcliff................... Tom Hardy (The Virgin Queen, Oliver Twist)
Cathy.......................... Charlotte Riley
Edgar.......................... Andrew Lincoln (Love Actually)
Nelly............................ Sarah Lancashire (Oliver Twist)
Hindley....................... Burn Gorman (Bleak House)
Isabella........................ Rosalind Halstead (Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason)
Catherine...................... Rebecca Night
Linton........................... Tom Payne
Hareton....................... Andrew Hawley
Mr Earnshaw................ Kevin R Mcnally
Joseph........................... Des Mcaleer
Doctor Kenneth........... Shaughan Seymour
Young Heathcliff.......... Declan Wheeldon
Young Cathy................. Alexandra Pearson
Young Hindley.............. Joseph Taylor

Production Credits
Adapted by........................................ Peter Browker (Blackpool)
From the classic novel by Emily Brontë
Director............................................. Coky Giedroyc (The Virgin Queen)
Executive Producer........................... Michele Buck
Damien Timmer
Hugo Heppell
Executive Producer for WGBH............. Rebecca Eaton

Categories: Movies-DVD-TV, Wuthering Heights