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The National Dream, also known as The National Dream: Building the Impossible Railway, is a 1974 Canadian television docudrama miniseries based on Pierre Berton's 1970 book of the same name, plus Berton's 1971 follow-up book The Last Spike.[1] The television adaptation was written by William Whitehead and Timothy Findley. Berton is listed as a consultant on the credits.
| The National Dream | |
|---|---|
| Based on | The National Dream The Last Spike |
| Written by | William Whitehead Timothy Findley |
| Directed by | James Murray Eric Till |
| Starring | John Colicos Gillie Fenwick William Hutt Joseph Shaw Gerard Parkes Chris Wiggins |
| Narrated by | Pierre Berton |
| Theme music composer | Louis Applebaum |
| Country of origin | Canada |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 8 |
| Production | |
| Producer | James Murray |
| Cinematography | Harry Makin, CSC |
| Editors | Don Haig Arla Saare |
| Running time | 447 minutes (approx. 56 minutes per episode) |
| Budget | $2,000,000 |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBC |
| Release | 3 March – 28 April 1974 |
The series portrayed the concept and construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway during the late 19th century, with Berton himself as narrator.[2] The National Dream combined dramatic reconstructions of the events (directed by Eric Till) with documentary content (directed by James Murray).[2][3] Production required two years and cost $2 million. Royal Trust, which was the executor of Cornelius Van Horne's estate, paid $400,000 to be a principal sponsor.[4]
CBC Television premiered the eight-part hour-long series on 30 March 1974[1] and aired its final instalment on 28 April 1974. The series' rated audience of three million within Canada set a record for CBC in terms of dramatic programming. The series was also dubbed in French and broadcast on Radio-Canada,[4] and was later seen in modified form on BBC in the United Kingdom.
Principal cast
- John Colicos as Cornelius Van Horne
- Gillie Fenwick as Alexander Mackenzie
- William Hutt as John A. Macdonald
- Joseph Shaw as George Stephen
- Gerard Parkes as Edward Blake
- Chris Wiggins as Donald Smith
- Ted Follows as Charles Tupper
List of episodes
- The Great Lone Land
- The Pacific Scandal
- The Horrid B.C. Business
- The Great Debate
- The Railway General
- The Sea of Mountains
- The Desperate Days
- The Last Spike
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The series was never intended for international sales to cover any significant portion of its production costs.[4] Berton, however, was believed to have earned at least $250,000 from it, as well as from a re-release of the related books.[4]
There has never been a home video release, but it is available to educational institutions in DVD on special order from the CBC.[5]
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