
Simon Russell Beale
Widmerpool


TV SERIES
A Dance to the Music of Time is a four-part adaptation of Anthony Powell's 12-volume novel sequence that aired on Channel 4 in 1997. The series is a sharp, comic portrait of upper-class and bohemian England, spanning almost a century, from the early 1920s to modern times.

Widmerpool

Nicholas Jenkins

Moreland

Peter Templer

Charles Stringham

Jean

Pamela Flitton

JG Quiggin

Uncle Giles

Nicholas Jenkins (older)
Mrs Erdleigh

Mona
Alvin Rakoff (Director) • Hugh Whitemore (Writer)
1993Series
2008Series
2010Series
2008Series
2014Series
1983Series
1996Series
2016Series
2025Series
2010Series
2022Series
2004Series
01The first film looks at the life of Kenneth Widmerpool, a tubby, much-teased boy at school who is to grow into a determined influence on his friends. Among these friends is Nicholas Jenkins, who is having an adulterous affair.
02Nick Jenkins and his friends have moved from twenty- to thirty-somethings. Marriages are beginning to crumble and youthful optimism is fading fast. Nick's affair with Jean Templer is coming to an end, but all unhappiness is swept aside when he meets Isobel Tolland, who takes him into London's bohemian life. A world of heavy drinking, all-night parties and colourful eccentrics. But, across the Channel in Germany, Hitler's power is rising and war seems inevitable.
03WWII has broken out and Nick Jenkins is in the army, leaving behind his wife Isobel, who is expecting their first child. Meanwhile, Kenneth Widmerpool makes the most of his connections and soon rises through the ranks to enjoy power and prestige. This episode also sees the arrival of Pamela Flitton, a dangerously beautiful woman who can cast a spell on all the men she meets - even the normally cool-headed Widmerpool.
04A decade has passed. Nick and his wife Isobel have moved to the country. Widmerpool has become a Labour MP and is dabbling in Eastern European politics. His wife Pamela is behaving even more outrageously, and gossip surrounding her bizarre sex life is raging.