The Lost Boys (docudrama)
Encyclopedia
The Lost Boys is an award-winning 1978 docudrama
mini-series produced by the BBC
, written by Andrew Birkin, and directed by Rodney Bennett. It is about the relationship between Peter Pan
creator J. M. Barrie
and the Llewelyn Davies boys
.
) meets the two oldest Davies boys, George and Jack, during outings with their nurse Mary Hodgson (Anna Cropper
) in Kensington Gardens
. He entertains them, especially George, with his matter-of-fact fantasy stories, some of which include a magical toddler who shares a name with their infant brother Peter.
Jim and his wife Mary (Maureen O'Brien
) meet the boys' parents Sylvia (Ann Bell
) and Arthur
(Tim Pigott-Smith
) at a dinner party, and he forms a friendship with the mother and her sons. The Barries and Davies socialize, but Mary and Arthur each quietly resent Jim: for neglecting her, and for imposing into his family. Sylvia and Arthur have two more sons, Michael and Nico, whom Jim adds to his circle of young friends. He writes a play based on them: Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, which is a great success for him and his producer friend Charles Frohman
(William Hootkins
).
Arthur is struck by a disfiguring and ultimately fatal cancer. Jim steps in to support the Davies family with some of his ample income from Peter Pan, attempting to be a friend to Arthur in his final days but alienating Jack with his interference. With George away at school, sensitive Michael becomes the center of 'Uncle Jim's' attention. Tired of Jim's indifference toward her, Mary falls in love and has an affair with his young colleague Gilbert Cannan
(Brian Stirner). She refuses to end it, and Jim reluctantly gives her a divorce. Meanwhile, Sylvia has fallen ill with cancer, and dies a few years after her husband. Jim claims they were engaged.
The boys continue to live in the Davies' London house with Mary Hodgson, and Uncle Jim serves as their guardian, all following Sylvia's wishes. As the years go by, George becomes an adult confidant of Uncle Jim, while Jack joins the Navy. World War I breaks out, and George and Peter volunteer for the Army; George is killed in combat. Jack returns to London to marry, and Uncle Jim gives the couple the Davies' house, moving Michael and Nico into his flat with him; this prompts Mary Hodgson to resign. Peter returns from the War with a morbid outlook on death. Michael spends increasing time with his school friends and chafes against Uncle Jim's wish to keep him close; he drowns just short of his 21st birthday. In later years with even Nico grown, Sir James endures loneliness, taking some measure of enjoyment with the young son of his secretary, Lady Cynthia Asquith (Sheila Ruskin
).
starring Mia Farrow
and Danny Kaye
. Wishing to spend more time with Farrow, Birkin 'justified [his] presence on the set by becoming the resident Barrie expert.' His proposal to the BBC was based on his notes from that research. Birkin worked closely with Nicholas Llewelyn Davies, the youngest and last survivor of the five brothers, and his script adheres closely to the known facts and timeline of the Barries' and the Davies' lives, sometimes using surviving correspondence between the subjects as the basis for dialogue.
, 'I doubt if biography has ever been better televised than in this sensitive and beautifully crafted masterpiece, and I am quite sure such excellence is beyond any other television service in the world. ... The entire House of Commons should be required to view it before voting on the proposed increase in BBC funding.' Janet Dunbar (Barrie's 1971 biographer) called it 'a brilliant achievement ... a classic in the television medium - one of the finest pieces of television drama I have ever seen. ... I had the experience of watching, not Ian Holm playing J M Barrie, but Barrie himself ... the definitive recreation of J M Barrie in dramatic terms.' Nancy Banks-Smith
wrote in The Guardian
: 'Andrew Birkin's convincing and compelling biographical trilogy is most beautifully and sensitively done. ... There is a nice ambivalence about The Lost Boys as there is about The Turn of the Screw, an ambiguity and sense of menace. A delightful frightfulness. The rich sets, the allusive, elusive script which always suggests more than it says. ... The Lost Boys is a gift, a present, a parabola of pleasure to me, something to be unwrapped and tasted and rewrapped and saved until later.' Michael Church wrote in The Times
: 'Andrew Birkin's superb and haunting trilogy ... something quite out of the ordinary ... Desire, devotion, disease and death loom out in disturbingly intimate close up. ... Ian Holm, physically Barrie to the life, rules absolutely.' Chris Dunkley wrote in the Financial Times
, 'It is only very rarely that a television drama comes along in which every constituent manages to provide a flawless contribution. The Lost Boys has been such a production.'
The film was cited in several annual round-ups, including Benny Green in Punch
: 'Best Original Drama: The Lost Boys, which advanced from competence to brilliance to deep compassion and mastery of touch, and which, for intensity of characterization and economy of writing, was a masterpiece of the televisual form.' In the Daily Mail
, Elisabeth Cowley voted 'My Pick of the Year: For sheer delicacy, The Lost Boys. A lovely, disturbing production, not quite of this world - indeed, no more of this world than the bewitched and lonely writer at its heart. Ian Holm never put a foot wrong in his stunning portrayal of J M Barrie.' The BBC’s Director-General Sir Ian Trethowan
called it 'a landmark in television drama'.
The BBC published the full scripts when the series was repeated in 1980, The Spectator
calling them 'a priceless addition to a corpus of literature of coherent television drama.'
Each of the boys is portrayed by a series of young actors as the years pass within the story:
Docudrama
In film, television programming and staged theatre, docudrama is a documentary-style genre that features dramatized re-enactments of actual historical events. As a neologism, the term is often confused with docufiction....
mini-series produced by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, written by Andrew Birkin, and directed by Rodney Bennett. It is about the relationship between Peter Pan
Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie . A mischievous boy who can fly and magically refuses to grow up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood adventuring on the small island of Neverland as the leader of his gang the Lost Boys, interacting with...
creator J. M. Barrie
J. M. Barrie
Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, OM was a Scottish author and dramatist, best remembered today as the creator of Peter Pan. The child of a family of small-town weavers, he was educated in Scotland. He moved to London, where he developed a career as a novelist and playwright...
and the Llewelyn Davies boys
Llewelyn Davies boys
The Davies boys were the sons of Arthur and Sylvia Llewelyn Davies . They served as the inspiration for the characters of Peter Pan and the other boys of J. M...
.
Plot
Novelist Jim Barrie (Ian HolmIan Holm
Sir Ian Holm, CBE is an English actor known for his stage work and for many film roles. He received the 1967 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor for his performance as Lenny in The Homecoming and the 1998 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance in the title role of King Lear...
) meets the two oldest Davies boys, George and Jack, during outings with their nurse Mary Hodgson (Anna Cropper
Anna Cropper
Anna Cropper was a British stage and television actress.-Career:Cropper studied acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. She made her television debut as Chrysalis in "The Insect Play" in 1960, based on the 1921 play by Czechs Josef and Karel Capek...
) in Kensington Gardens
Kensington Gardens
Kensington Gardens, once the private gardens of Kensington Palace, is one of the Royal Parks of London, lying immediately to the west of Hyde Park. It is shared between the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The park covers an area of 111 hectares .The open spaces...
. He entertains them, especially George, with his matter-of-fact fantasy stories, some of which include a magical toddler who shares a name with their infant brother Peter.
Jim and his wife Mary (Maureen O'Brien
Maureen O'Brien
Maureen O'Brien is an English actress of Irish descent and author best known for playing the role of Vicki in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, although she has appeared in many other television programmes as well.She played the part of Vicki in 38 episodes of Doctor Who from 2...
) meet the boys' parents Sylvia (Ann Bell
Ann Bell
Ann Bell is a British actress, best known for playing war internee Marion Jefferson in the BBC World War II drama series Tenko during the early 1980s. She was born in Wallasey, Cheshire, daughter of John Forrest Bell and Marjorie Bell, and educated at Birkenhead High School...
) and Arthur
Arthur Llewelyn Davies
Arthur Llewelyn Davies was a respected barrister, but is best known as the father of the boys who served as the inspiration for Peter Pan and the other children of J. M. Barrie's stories of Neverland...
(Tim Pigott-Smith
Tim Pigott-Smith
Tim Pigott-Smith is an English film and television actor.-Early life:Pigott-Smith was born in Rugby, Warwickshire, the son of Margaret Muriel and Harry Thomas Pigott-Smith, who was a journalist. He was educated at Wyggeston Boys' School, Leicester, King Edward VI School Stratford-upon-Avon, and...
) at a dinner party, and he forms a friendship with the mother and her sons. The Barries and Davies socialize, but Mary and Arthur each quietly resent Jim: for neglecting her, and for imposing into his family. Sylvia and Arthur have two more sons, Michael and Nico, whom Jim adds to his circle of young friends. He writes a play based on them: Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, which is a great success for him and his producer friend Charles Frohman
Charles Frohman
Charles Frohman was an American theatrical producer. Frohman was producing plays by 1889 and acquired his first Broadway theatre by 1892. He discovered and promoted many stars of the American theatre....
(William Hootkins
William Hootkins
William Michael Hootkins was an American character actor, most famous for supporting roles in Hollywood blockbusters such as Star Wars, Batman and Raiders of the Lost Ark.-Early life:...
).
Arthur is struck by a disfiguring and ultimately fatal cancer. Jim steps in to support the Davies family with some of his ample income from Peter Pan, attempting to be a friend to Arthur in his final days but alienating Jack with his interference. With George away at school, sensitive Michael becomes the center of 'Uncle Jim's' attention. Tired of Jim's indifference toward her, Mary falls in love and has an affair with his young colleague Gilbert Cannan
Gilbert Cannan
Gilbert Cannan was a British novelist and dramatist.-Early life:Born in Manchester of Scottish descent, he got on badly with his family, and in 1897 he was sent to live in Oxford with the economist Edwin Cannan...
(Brian Stirner). She refuses to end it, and Jim reluctantly gives her a divorce. Meanwhile, Sylvia has fallen ill with cancer, and dies a few years after her husband. Jim claims they were engaged.
The boys continue to live in the Davies' London house with Mary Hodgson, and Uncle Jim serves as their guardian, all following Sylvia's wishes. As the years go by, George becomes an adult confidant of Uncle Jim, while Jack joins the Navy. World War I breaks out, and George and Peter volunteer for the Army; George is killed in combat. Jack returns to London to marry, and Uncle Jim gives the couple the Davies' house, moving Michael and Nico into his flat with him; this prompts Mary Hodgson to resign. Peter returns from the War with a morbid outlook on death. Michael spends increasing time with his school friends and chafes against Uncle Jim's wish to keep him close; he drowns just short of his 21st birthday. In later years with even Nico grown, Sir James endures loneliness, taking some measure of enjoyment with the young son of his secretary, Lady Cynthia Asquith (Sheila Ruskin
Sheila Ruskin
Sheila Ruskin is an English actress.She is possibly best known for playing Vipsania in the 1976 BBC adaptation of I, Claudius but is also remembered by fans of Doctor Who for her performance as Kassia in the 1981 serial The Keeper of Traken, and by Blake's 7 fans as Alta 1 in the 1979 episode...
).
Background
Writer Andrew Birkin had been hired to work on a musical adaptation of Peter PanPeter and Wendy
Peter and Wendy, published in 1911, is the novelisation by J. M. Barrie of his most famous play Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up...
starring Mia Farrow
Mia Farrow
Mia Farrow is an American actress, singer, humanitarian, and fashion model.Farrow first gained wide acclaim for her role as Allison Mackenzie in the soap opera Peyton Place, and for her subsequent short-lived marriage to Frank Sinatra...
and Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye was a celebrated American actor, singer, dancer, and comedian...
. Wishing to spend more time with Farrow, Birkin 'justified [his] presence on the set by becoming the resident Barrie expert.' His proposal to the BBC was based on his notes from that research. Birkin worked closely with Nicholas Llewelyn Davies, the youngest and last survivor of the five brothers, and his script adheres closely to the known facts and timeline of the Barries' and the Davies' lives, sometimes using surviving correspondence between the subjects as the basis for dialogue.
Reception
The Lost Boys was first aired on BBC-2 television in three weekly 90-minute episodes, beginning 11 October 1978. Reviews were highly favourable. The critic Sean Day-Lewis wrote in The Daily TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
, 'I doubt if biography has ever been better televised than in this sensitive and beautifully crafted masterpiece, and I am quite sure such excellence is beyond any other television service in the world. ... The entire House of Commons should be required to view it before voting on the proposed increase in BBC funding.' Janet Dunbar (Barrie's 1971 biographer) called it 'a brilliant achievement ... a classic in the television medium - one of the finest pieces of television drama I have ever seen. ... I had the experience of watching, not Ian Holm playing J M Barrie, but Barrie himself ... the definitive recreation of J M Barrie in dramatic terms.' Nancy Banks-Smith
Nancy Banks-Smith
Nancy Banks-Smith is a British television critic; she began writing for The Guardian in 1969. In 1970 she was recommended for the Order of the British Empire, which she declined.*1951- 1955: Northern Daily Telegraph, reporter...
wrote in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
: 'Andrew Birkin's convincing and compelling biographical trilogy is most beautifully and sensitively done. ... There is a nice ambivalence about The Lost Boys as there is about The Turn of the Screw, an ambiguity and sense of menace. A delightful frightfulness. The rich sets, the allusive, elusive script which always suggests more than it says. ... The Lost Boys is a gift, a present, a parabola of pleasure to me, something to be unwrapped and tasted and rewrapped and saved until later.' Michael Church wrote in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
: 'Andrew Birkin's superb and haunting trilogy ... something quite out of the ordinary ... Desire, devotion, disease and death loom out in disturbingly intimate close up. ... Ian Holm, physically Barrie to the life, rules absolutely.' Chris Dunkley wrote in the Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
, 'It is only very rarely that a television drama comes along in which every constituent manages to provide a flawless contribution. The Lost Boys has been such a production.'
The film was cited in several annual round-ups, including Benny Green in Punch
Punch (magazine)
Punch, or the London Charivari was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire established in 1841 by Henry Mayhew and engraver Ebenezer Landells. Historically, it was most influential in the 1840s and 50s, when it helped to coin the term "cartoon" in its modern sense as a humorous illustration...
: 'Best Original Drama: The Lost Boys, which advanced from competence to brilliance to deep compassion and mastery of touch, and which, for intensity of characterization and economy of writing, was a masterpiece of the televisual form.' In the Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
, Elisabeth Cowley voted 'My Pick of the Year: For sheer delicacy, The Lost Boys. A lovely, disturbing production, not quite of this world - indeed, no more of this world than the bewitched and lonely writer at its heart. Ian Holm never put a foot wrong in his stunning portrayal of J M Barrie.' The BBC’s Director-General Sir Ian Trethowan
Ian Trethowan
Sir Ian Trethowan was a British journalist, radio and television broadcaster and administrator who eventually became Director-General of the BBC...
called it 'a landmark in television drama'.
The BBC published the full scripts when the series was repeated in 1980, The Spectator
The Spectator
The Spectator is a weekly British magazine first published on 6 July 1828. It is currently owned by David and Frederick Barclay, who also owns The Daily Telegraph. Its principal subject areas are politics and culture...
calling them 'a priceless addition to a corpus of literature of coherent television drama.'
Cast
- J. M. BarrieJ. M. BarrieSir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, OM was a Scottish author and dramatist, best remembered today as the creator of Peter Pan. The child of a family of small-town weavers, he was educated in Scotland. He moved to London, where he developed a career as a novelist and playwright...
- Ian HolmIan HolmSir Ian Holm, CBE is an English actor known for his stage work and for many film roles. He received the 1967 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor for his performance as Lenny in The Homecoming and the 1998 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance in the title role of King Lear...
– His son Barnaby plays the eldest of the Davies boys in the scenes in which the two become friends. - Sylvia Llewelyn Davies - Ann BellAnn BellAnn Bell is a British actress, best known for playing war internee Marion Jefferson in the BBC World War II drama series Tenko during the early 1980s. She was born in Wallasey, Cheshire, daughter of John Forrest Bell and Marjorie Bell, and educated at Birkenhead High School...
- Arthur Llewelyn DaviesArthur Llewelyn DaviesArthur Llewelyn Davies was a respected barrister, but is best known as the father of the boys who served as the inspiration for Peter Pan and the other children of J. M. Barrie's stories of Neverland...
- Tim Pigott-SmithTim Pigott-SmithTim Pigott-Smith is an English film and television actor.-Early life:Pigott-Smith was born in Rugby, Warwickshire, the son of Margaret Muriel and Harry Thomas Pigott-Smith, who was a journalist. He was educated at Wyggeston Boys' School, Leicester, King Edward VI School Stratford-upon-Avon, and... - Mary Hodgson - Anna CropperAnna CropperAnna Cropper was a British stage and television actress.-Career:Cropper studied acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. She made her television debut as Chrysalis in "The Insect Play" in 1960, based on the 1921 play by Czechs Josef and Karel Capek...
- Mary Barrie - Maureen O'BrienMaureen O'BrienMaureen O'Brien is an English actress of Irish descent and author best known for playing the role of Vicki in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, although she has appeared in many other television programmes as well.She played the part of Vicki in 38 episodes of Doctor Who from 2...
- Charles FrohmanCharles FrohmanCharles Frohman was an American theatrical producer. Frohman was producing plays by 1889 and acquired his first Broadway theatre by 1892. He discovered and promoted many stars of the American theatre....
- William HootkinsWilliam HootkinsWilliam Michael Hootkins was an American character actor, most famous for supporting roles in Hollywood blockbusters such as Star Wars, Batman and Raiders of the Lost Ark.-Early life:...
Each of the boys is portrayed by a series of young actors as the years pass within the story:
- George Llewelyn Davies - Barnaby HolmBarnaby HolmBarnaby Holm is an American former child actor. His best known role is as Peter, a young disciple of Damien Thorn , in the 1981 film Omen III: The Final Conflict....
, Paul Holmes, Philip Kassler, Mark Benson, and Christopher BlakeChristopher BlakeChristopher Blake was an English actor and screenwriter who is best remembered for starring in the British sitcom That's My Boy alongside Mollie Sugden.- Early life:... - Jack Llewelyn Davies - Nicholas Borton, Guy Hewitt, David Wilson, and Osmund Bullock
- Peter Llewelyn Davies - Jean-Benoit Louveaux, Matthew Blakstad, Dominic Heath, and Tom KellyTom Kelly (actor)Tom Kelly is a British actor, noted for his roles in television.He appeared in three Doctor Who serials , as well as Blake's 7, Sapphire & Steel and Dempsey & Makepeace....
- Michael Llewelyn Davies - Sebastian Buss, Paul SpurrierPaul SpurrierPaul Spurrier , is a British former child actor on stage, television, and film, and a screenwriter and film director. He appeared in more than thirty different roles, with credits including Anna Karenina and The Lost Boys for the BBC, Tales of the Unexpected for Anglia Television, and the feature...
, Alexander Buss, Charles Tatnall, and William Relton - Nicholas Llewelyn Davies - Stephen Mathews, Jason Fathers, Matthew Ryan, and David ParfittDavid ParfittDavid Parfitt is a film producer and actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1998 for Shakespeare in Love....
Awards
- Won: 1979 BAFTA (Best Television Lighting, Sam Barclay)
- Nominated: 1979 BAFTA (Best Actor, Ian Holm)
- Nominated: 1979 BAFTA (Best Film Cameraman, Elmer Cossey)
- Nominated: 1979 BAFTA (Best VTR Editor, Charles Huff)
- Won: 1979 Royal Television SocietyRoyal Television SocietyThe Royal Television Society is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present and future. It is the oldest television society in the world...
(Best Design, Barry Newbery) - Won: 1979 Royal Television SocietyRoyal Television SocietyThe Royal Television Society is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present and future. It is the oldest television society in the world...
(Best Performance, Ian Holm) - Won: 1979 Royal Television SocietyRoyal Television SocietyThe Royal Television Society is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present and future. It is the oldest television society in the world...
(Best Writer, Andrew Birkin)