Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years

TV Mini Series
1981
1h

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Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years (1981)

The story of Winston Churchill's life between 1929, when he lost his cabinet position, and 1939, when he joined Great Britain's War Cabinet - a period he described as the most difficult in h... Read allThe story of Winston Churchill's life between 1929, when he lost his cabinet position, and 1939, when he joined Great Britain's War Cabinet - a period he described as the most difficult in his life.The story of Winston Churchill's life between 1929, when he lost his cabinet position, and 1939, when he joined Great Britain's War Cabinet - a period he described as the most difficult in his life.

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IMDb RATING

8.5/10

347

YOUR RATING

Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 8 BAFTA Awards
- 1 win & 8 nominations total

Episodes8

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TopTop-rated 1 Season 1981

Photos25

Trivia
For his performance in this series, Robert Hardy was the only actor to be nominated in the 1982 BAFTA Television Awards "Best Actor" category who was not being nominated for a role in Brideshead Revisited (1981), as the other nominees that year were Anthony Andrews (the winner), John Gielgud and Jeremy Irons.

Goofs
In the first episode, "Down and Out," Churchill is seen giving a speech in the USA in 1929. A US flag is visible to his right, and the field (with the stars) is visible. The stars are in staggered rows, meaning it is a 50 star US flag. A 48-star flag, as in use in 1929, would have even rows of stars (six rows of eight).

Connections
Referenced in 28 Up (1984)

User reviews8

Review

Featured review

Outstanding drama, shot in THE location

Have to agree with everything that the others have said before me. This is a superb, outstanding drama and the kind of thing that good modern history lessons should be built around in school. One or two others have described it as flawless - I agree: and some of the dramatic touches added by the lighting are almost genius. One thing that some people may not know is that some of it - particularly some of the outdoor scenes but also I suspect, some appropriate indoor scenes - were shot at Chartwell, Churchill's country house which is preserved for the public and has a warm and friendly, home "family" atmosphere. And yes, Churchill did indeed get a kick out of building a wall or two there, as well as painting some interesting pictures - his art is much more highly regarded by the critics than Hitler's!!