| The Gathering Storm | |
|---|---|
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| Genre | Drama |
| Teleplay by | Hugh Whitemore |
| Story by | Larry Ramin Hugh Whitemore |
| Directed by | Richard Loncraine |
| Starring | Albert Finney Vanessa Redgrave |
| Music by | Howard Goodall |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Producers | Frank Doelger David M. Thompson |
| Cinematography | Peter Hannan |
| Editor | Jim Clark |
| Running time | 96 minutes |
| Production companies | HBO Films BBC Films Scott Free Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | HBO |
| Release | 27 April 2002 |
| Network | BBC |
| Release | 12 July 2002 |
| Related | |
| Into the Storm | |
| Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) | |
The Gathering Storm is a BBC–HBO co-produced television biographical film about Winston Churchill in the years just prior to World War II. The title of the film is that of the first volume of Churchill's largely autobiographical six-volume history of the war, which covered the period from 1919 to 3 September 1939, the day he became First Lord of the Admiralty.
The film, directed by Richard Loncraine and written by Larry Ramin and Hugh Whitemore, stars Albert Finney as Churchill and Vanessa Redgrave as his wife Clementine Churchill ("Clemmie"). The film also features a supporting cast of British actors such as Derek Jacobi, Ronnie Barker (his first role since retiring in 1988), Jim Broadbent, Tom Wilkinson, Celia Imrie, Linus Roache and Hugh Bonneville, and is notable for an early appearance by a young Tom Hiddleston. Lena Headey, Simon Williams, and Edward Hardwicke all make brief appearances amongst the supporting cast. Among the film's executive producers were Ridley Scott and Tony Scott. Originally the film was named The Lonely War.[1]
Finney gained many accolades for his performance, winning both a BAFTA Award for Best Actor and an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor. Ramin and Whitemore won the Emmy for Outstanding Writing. It won a Peabody Award in 2002 for being "a portrait of a 20th Century hero’s return from political obscurity to direct the destiny of a nation."[2] In 2016, Mark Lawson of The Guardian ranked it as the most memorable television portrayal of Churchill.[3] A sequel, Into the Storm, was released in 2009, with Churchill portrayed by Brendan Gleeson, which focuses on the prime minister's days in office during World War II.
- ^ "The Lonely War". TCM Turner Classic Musics.
- ^ 62nd Annual Peabody Awards, May 2003.
- ^ Lawson, Mark (26 February 2016). "Close but no cigar: TV's Winston Churchills – ranked". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 5 May 2018.