The first trailer for HBO and BBC’s mini-series Parade’s End, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Rebecca Hall, and Adelaide Clemens has arrived, featuring all the aristocracy of Downton Abby with the WWI explosions of LEGENDS OF THE FALL. The series premiered last year on BBC and will now make it’s debut stateside on HBO. Based on the series of novels by Ford Madox Ford, the story centers on a love triangle between the old-fashioned Christopher Tietjens (Cumberbatch), his vindictive wife Sylvia (Rebecca Hall) and suffragette Valentine Wannop (Adelaide Clemens), in the midst of World War I and a Europe on the brink of profound change. As the war drags on, Christopher goes to fight in France, and leaves behind Sylvia, a son who may or may not be his and Valentine. He must ultimately decide who he is to remain with for the duration of his life: the beautiful yet manipulative Sylvia or the adoring Valentine.
The Downton Abby comparisons may not be merited, but the similarities are still there, if even just for the timeframe and locale. Either way, this looks like an engaging mini-series, which certainly benefits from having Benedict “The Batch” Cumberbatch and Rebecca Hall in it, two actors who seem to be climbing the ladder into our consciousness with the number of projects they keep tackling.
Tea?:
Parade’s End will premiere on HBO starting February 26, 2013.