Simon Russell Beale
Widmerpool
TV SERIES
A Dance to the Music of Time
ComedyDrama
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.
Top cast
James Purefoy
Nicholas Jenkins
James Fleet
Moreland
Jonathan Cake
Peter Templer
Paul Rhys
Charles Stringham
Claire Skinner
Jean
Miranda Richardson
Pamela Flitton
Adrian Scarborough
JG Quiggin
Edward Fox
Uncle Giles
John Standing
Nicholas Jenkins (older)
GB
Gillian Barge
Mrs Erdleigh
Annabel Mullion
Mona
Creative team
Alvin Rakoff (Director) • Hugh Whitemore (Writer)
You may also like
TV
Lady Chatterley
1993Series
TV
Tess of the D'Urbervilles
2008Series
TV
Downton Abbey
2010Series
TV
Little Dorrit
2008Series
TV
The Spoils of Babylon
2014Series
TV
The Winds of War
1983Series
TV
Dalziel and Pascoe
1996Series
TV
The Witness for the Prosecution
2016Series
TV
The Forsytes
2025Series
TV
The Pillars of the Earth
2010Series
TV
How I Met Your Father
2022Series
TV
Agatha Christie's Marple
2004Series
Episodes
4 Episodes011. The Twenties
The 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.
022. The Thirties
Nick 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.
033. The War
WWII 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.
044. Post War
A 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.