The First Gentleman

Summary

1961 Southern Television production for ITV of The First Gentleman by Norman Ginsbury.

Theatre play

The First Gentleman by Norman Ginsbury (1902-1991) [more information]

Play synopsis

TV Times, 23 June 1961, p. 41: ‘England was celebrating the defeat of Napoleon. Parties were being held everywhere and none were more lavish than those given by the Prince Regent. Against this background of gaiety the Regent plots his daughter’s marriage to William, Prince of ORange. But the strong-minded Chalotte puts love before her father’s thirst for power’.

Production history

First performed in London in 1945. Source: http://janeaustensworld.wordpress.com/2010/05/26/the-first-gentleman-a-1945-play-about-the-prince-regent/.

Date of transmission

Saturday 1 July 1961

Time

9.50-11.20pm

Channel

ITV

Production company

Southern Television (1958-1981)

Credits

Director

Philip Dale

Producer

Michael Benthall

Playwright

Norman Ginsbury (1902-1991)

Adapted for Television by

Norman Ginsbury (1902-1991) ('by arrangement with the Old Vic’)

Designer

Reece Pemberton

Cast

John Barcroft	Dr Stockmar
Margaret Courtenay	Lady Conyngham
Gerald Cross	Henry Brougham
Charles Gray	Prince Regent of England
Jack Gwillim	Edward, Duke of Kent
Edward Harvey	Sir Richard Croft
Mary Hignett	Princess Augusta
Dudley Jones	Bishop of Salisbury
Diana King	Lady Hertford
Viola Lyel	Miss Cornelia Knight
Michael Meacham	Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg
Madeleine Newbury	Mrs Griffiths
Hana Pravda	Caroline, Princess of Wales
Ann Tirard	Princess Mary
Marda Vanne	Queen Charlotte
John Wood	William, Prince of Orange
Susannah York	Princess Charlotte

Additional details

Extant status

No archival copy is known to exist.

Play tags

19th-century setting; marriage; royalty

Print sources

Title

TV Times, 23 June 1961 (Magazine)

Linking notes

article, p. 15; listing, p. 41