The Crimson Field

The Crimson Field is a British period drama television series that was broadcast beginning on BBC One on 6 April 2014. The series shows the lives of medics and the patients at a fictional field hospital in France during the First World War.^[1][2]

The Crimson Field
Genre	Drama
Written by	Sarah Phelps
Directed by	David Evans Richard Clark Thaddeus O'Sullivan
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	6
Production
Executive producers	Anne Pivcevic Sarah Phelps
Producer	Annie Tricklebank
Cinematography	Matt Gray BSC
Running time	60 minutes
Production company	BBC Drama Production
Original release
Network	BBC One BBC One HD
Release	6 April (2014-04-06) – 11 May 2014 (2014-05-11)

Cast

Cast of The Crimson Field

• Rupert Graves as Major Edward Crecy
• Oona Chaplin as Kitty Trevelyan
• Hermione Norris as Grace Carter
• Suranne Jones as Sister Joan Livesey
• Kevin Doyle as Lt Col Roland Brett
• Kerry Fox as Sister Margaret Quayle
• Alex Wyndham as Captain Miles Hesketh-Thorne
• Jeremy Swift as Quartermaster Sergeant Reggie Soper
• Richard Rankin as Captain Thomas Gillan
• Marianne Oldham as Rosalie Berwick
• Alice St. Clair as Flora Marshall
• Jack Gordon as Orderly Corporal Peter Foley
• Liam James Collins as Tommy
• Lewis C. Elson as Injured Soldier

Production

Originally called The Ark, the series was commissioned by Ben Stephenson and Danny Cohen^[3][4] as part of the BBC World War I centenary season. Sarah Phelps, the creator of The Crimson Field said: "I am bouncing off the walls with excitement at having such an extraordinary talented cast, bouncing off the walls."^[3]

Filming began in August 2013. The Historic Dockyard Chatham and HMS Gannet featured in the first episode of the series doubling as the Port of Boulogne, France.^[5] Dyrham Park appeared in scenes as a French hotel.

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	UK viewers (millions) [6][specify]
1	"Episode 1"	David Evans	Sarah Phelps	6 April 2014 (2014-04-06)	7.83
2	"Episode 2"	David Evans	Sarah Phelps	13 April 2014 (2014-04-13)	6.89
3	"Episode 3"	Richard Clark	Sarah Phelps	20 April 2014 (2014-04-20)	6.31
4	"Episode 4"	Richard Clark	Sarah Phelps	27 April 2014 (2014-04-27)	6.25
5	"Episode 5"	Thaddeus O'Sullivan	Sarah Phelps	4 May 2014 (2014-05-04)	6.01
6	"Episode 6"	Thaddeus O'Sullivan	Sarah Phelps	11 May 2014 (2014-05-11)	6.33

Cancellation

The show was cancelled after one series, due to a lacklustre critical and audience response, as well as budgetary considerations towards other BBC series.^[7] Phelps revealed she had planned four more series.

See also

• Alexis Carrel and Henry Drysdale Dakin, developers of the pre-antibiotic antiseptic Carrel-Dakin method depicted in the series.
• Edith Cavell, the British Red Cross nurse whose execution by German firing squad is mentioned in Episode 6.

References

1. "BBC reveals 2,500-hour World War I season". BBC News. 16 October 2013. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
2. Vincent, Alice (7 August 2013). "Hermione Norris, Oona Chaplin and Suranne Jones in cast of field hospital drama, The Ark". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
3. "Cast announced for Sarah Phelps' new First World War drama series, The Crimson Field". BBC. 7 August 2013. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
4. "Casting announced for WWI drama The Ark". BBC. 7 August 2013. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
5. Kent Film Office. "Kent Film Office The Crimson Field Film Focus".
6. "BARB Top 30s".
7. Dowell, Ben (10 June 2014). "BBC1 axes First World War drama The Crimson Field". Radio Times. Retrieved 12 July 2015.

External links

• The Crimson Field at BBC Online
• The Crimson Field at IMDb