Tim Fywell Movies
Sarah Waters' 1999 novel of the same name serves as the inspiration for director Tim Fywell and screenwriter Andrew Davies' gothic period drama detailing the relationship between an upper class Victorian girl still mourning the death of her father and a once-successful medium imprisoned for assaulting a young girl. Margaret (Anna Madeley) may have all the wealth a woman cold want, but without her father around she just can't seem to enjoy it. In desperate need of a diversion and eager to experience life outside of her small protective bubble, Margaret makes arrangements to go to Millbank Prison as a "Lady Visitor." Once inside the stone and steel fortress, it doesn't take long for Margaret to forget about her responsibilities to the prisoners and form a strange fixation on an attractive young named convict Selina (Zoe Tapper). Before Selina was imprisoned, she had enjoyed celebrity status as a medium. That all changed once Selina was accused of assault, yet the closer Margaret gets to the charismatic inmate the more convinced she becomes that her story isn't as simple as the judge made it out to be. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Zoe Tapper
Yesterday's secrets breed today's nightmares in this dark drama concerning three strangers who will kill to protect what is rightfully theirs. Jean (Penelope Wilton) is a professional house sitter on the eve of retirement. Before Jean stops taking jobs, however, she has agreed to watch over the palatial Walden Manor while the owners are away. Later, as Jean settles in for an uneventful weekend in the sprawling country estate, her peace and quiet is suddenly shattered by a desperate knock on the door. On the other side, a pregnant girl named Steph (Sinead Matthews) on the run from her abusive boyfriend. Accompanied by kindly stranger Michael (Daniel Mays), Steph is seeking to find a safe place to give birth. But Steph has left a trail of blood that leads directly to Walden Manor, and in her effort to find happiness by escaping her violent past she will soon discover that the present can be just as unforgiving. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Penelope Wilton, Daniel Mays, (more)
A teenager is torn between her desire to please her mother and following her own ambitions in this family-friendly comedy drama. Casey Carlyle (Michelle Trachtenberg) is a high-school student who has a keen mind for math and looks to be on the fast track to Harvard, which is just the way her mother (Joan Cusack) wants it. However, Casey also has a dream of becoming a competitive ice skater, which is not a popular notion with either Casey's mom or her school's clique of aspiring skaters, led by the egocentric Gen (Hayden Panettiere). However, one day at the rink Casey wins the attention of Tina (Kim Cattrall), a former skating champion who now trains her daughter and is trying to live down an incident that grounded her career on the ice. Tina thinks Casey has what it takes to be a champ, but neither Gen nor Casey's mother are happy with this news, leaving Casey and Tina to go it alone, though Casey soon wins the emotional support of Teddy (Trevor Blumas), Gen's handsome older brother. Ice Princess also features champion skater Michelle Kwan in a small role as herself, doing television commentary at a skating event. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Cusack, Kim Cattrall, (more)
Based on the novel by Dodie Smith (101 Dalmatians), director Tim Fywell's comic romance follows 17-year-old Cassandra Mortmain (Romola Garai) and her quirky family as they attempt to make the best of their meager existence in a crumbling English castle. While her father (Bill Nighy) has been struggling for over a decade to repeat the success of his debut novel, her beautiful sister Rose (Rose Byrne) frequently voices her displeasure with their current situation, and nudist stepmother Topaz (Tara Fitzgerald) proves little help at much of anything. The arrival of American landlord Simon Cotton (Henry Thomas) and his brother Neil (Marc Blucas) provides a glimmer of hope as the initially repelled Rose soon takes a liking to Simon and the two arrange to marry. Lost in the chaotic shuffle of marriage plans and increasingly complicated relationships, the hapless Cassandra soon begins to blossom into womanhood as she experiences aspects of life that were heretofore unknown to her. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Romola Garai, Rose Byrne, (more)
- 2000
Britain's "answer" to such American legal-eagle series as L.A. Law and The Practice, North Square was set in Leeds. The stories revolved a round a group of savvy lawyers, young and old, who encountered just as much excitement off the job as they did in court. Created by Peter Moffat, the series was distinguished by its clever dialogue and logical plot lines; as a bonus, Jon Costelloe won the series a BAFTA award for his razor-sharp editing. Unfortunately, the series never built up a very large viewership; thus, ten weeks after its Channel 4 debut on October 18, 2000, North Square was no more. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2000
Previously filmed by such cinematic geniuses as Jean Renoir and Vincente Minnelli, Gustave Flaubert's once-scandalous 1857 novel Madame Bovary was transformed into a two-part British miniseries in 2000. Set in the rural Normandy of the 1830s and 1840s, this is the story of Emma Rouault (Frances O'Connor), the pampered, well-educated daughter of a wealthy gentleman. Much to her own surprise, Emma accepts the marriage proposal of Charles Bovary (Hugh Bonneville), the provincial doctor who ministers to M. Rouault during a moment of medical crisis. Once she has become Madame Bovary, Emma quickly grows bored with her bourgeois existence, retreating into erotic fantasies stoked by her addiction to romantic novels. Inevitably, Emma strays from her marital vows, first with a handsome young clerk named Leon (Hugh Dancy), then with dashing country squire Rodolphe (Greg Wise). In order to sustain the lavish lifestyle which she feels is her basic right, Emma squanders all of her husband's money -- which plays right into the hands of usurious draper Lheureux (Keith Barron), who has his own wicked plans for the foolishly extravagant Mme. Bovary. In the United States, Madame Bovary was telecast on February 6 and 13, 2000, as part of the PBS Masterpiece Theatre anthology. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frances O'Connor, Hugh Bonneville, (more)
- 1998
Three women who are viewed with suspicion by their neighbors become the center of an investigation with deadly consequences in this made-for-TV drama. Anne (Kitty Aldridge), Diana (Frances Barber), and Phoebe (Penny Downie) share a large old estate in a quiet rural community. The women are reclusive and are shunned by many of the townspeople -- partially because they're believed to be lesbians, and partly because the husband of one of the women disappeared under mysterious circumstances ten years ago. When a dead body is found in the ice house on the women's property, the same police detective who investigated the decade old missing-persons case is sent in to see if foul play is afoot; he was certain that the wife was responsible for her husband's disappearance before, and this time he's determined to put her behind bars. Based on the novel by Minette Walters, The Ice House was originally produced by the BBC and first aired in the United States on the PBS series Mystery! ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Along a dark country road in Cumberland, England, a ghoulish woman in white steps from the shadows to confront a foot traveler, Walter Hartright (Andrew Lincoln), bound for Limmeridge House three miles off. She asks senseless questions: "You don't suspect me of wrong, do you, Sir? Why do you suspect me of wrong?" Hartright assures her he suspects her of no wrong, but she gibbers on. When a carriage happens by, the woman dissolves into the darkness and Hartright accepts the offer of a ride the rest of the way to Limmeridge House, a mansion where eccentric esquire Frederick Fairlie (Ian Richardson) has arranged for Hartright to tutor his nieces -- half-sisters Marian and Laura Fairlie -- in the art of drawing. Soon, Hartright falls in love with Laura, a wealthy heiress. Strangely, she is the near mirror image of the woman in white. Laura, in turn, falls in love with him. Marian, who wants only the best for Laura, approves of the romance. Unfortunately, Hartright loses his job when falsely accused of bad conduct. Before he leaves Limmeridge House, he warns Laura that she and her sister are in grave danger. Deeply disappointed in him, Laura ignores his caveat and fulfills a pledge to marry Sir Percival Gylde (James Wilby). He seems amiable and even invites Marian to live with him and Laura after the wedding. But when Laura returns from the honeymoon, she is melancholy and morose, hardly speaking a word to Marian. Glyde and a sinister visitor named Count Fosco (Simon Callow) are the reasons. Apparently, they are plotting to seize her inheritance using the tidiest of stratagems: murder. Meanwhile, dark secrets unravel involving Glyde's family background and the mysterious woman in white, and Hartright returns in an attempt to save the sisters and exorcise the evil possessing Limmeridge House. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tara Fitzgerald, James Wilby, (more)
- 1994
Based on author Ruth Rendell's novel of the same name, A Dark Adapted Eye follows the jealous and arguably insane path of the domineering Vera Hillyard (Celia Imrie), whose obsessive need to control her sons (the older is prone to demonstrating decidedly aggressive behavior, the younger may or may not be legitimate) and daughter plays a prominent role in her own undoing. Meanwhile, her manipulative sister, Eden (Sophie Ward), ultimately provokes Vera into what the community believes to be the deliberate murder of a child. Directed by Tim Fywell, the film also features Helena Bonham Carter, Jason Durr, Guy Witcher, and Robin Ellis. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helena Bonham Carter, Celia Imrie, (more)
- 1993
Based on a novel by Barbara Vine (aka Ruth Rendell), this three-part BBC1 miniseries began as a young fellow named Sandor (Paul Rhys) showed up just in time to save another young man named Joe (Michael Sheen) from drowning himself. From this point forward, Joe regarded himself as a "gallowglass," or unofficial indentured servant, indebted to Sandor for life. Joe's devotion to his rescuer led him into a complex plot to kidnap wealthy young heiress Nine (Arkie Whitely), and, subsequently, a baffling murder mystery. Gallowglass first aired in 1993. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1991
The BBC1 miniseries Fatal Inversion was based on a novel by Ruth Rendell, writing under her familiar nom de plume of Barbara Vine. Upon moving back to his ancestral home in the country, Adam Verne-Smith (Douglas Hodge) was forced to come face to face with his past when the bodies of a woman and her child are found nearby. Twelve years earlier, five young college students were involved, innocently or otherwise, in the murders, and two of those students were Adam and his best friend, Rufus Fletcher (Jeremy Northam). Viewers were kept in suspense as to the outcome of the story until the very last minutes of the series' final hour-long episode. Fatal Inversion originally aired in three parts in 1992. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
