Lord Mountbatten – The
Last Viceroy (British TV
Mini-Series)
Picture: C
Sound: C+ Extras: C Episodes: B
Nicol Williamson is really impressive in the title role of
Lord Mountbatten – The Last Viceroy, a six-part mini-series telling of
the royal who managed to see Britain through World War II, only to find his
greatest challenge to be keeping protectorate India in one piece in the face of
unrest, Gandhi’s challenges and Pakistan’s desire to divide, conquer and
eliminate the country altogether. As
relevant now as it was back in 1985, the series holds up pretty well for the
most part, though Sam Dastor’s Gandhi is going to be mercilessly compared to
Sir Ben Kingsley’s version.
Despite some focus on Gandhi’s story, much of this tells
us about the British Empire and to the point that some would consider it
politically incorrect. It shows
Mountbatten as more visionary than expected, trying to do what is best for all
parties involved. Sometimes, this has
touches of melodrama from a time in TV when the approached still worked, but is
now the most dated aspect of the production.
Otherwise, there are fine performances and good pacing by director Tom
Clegg from David Butler’s teleplay. The
majority of it is pretty good, though, and co-stars Ian Richardson, Vladek
Sheybal, Nigel Davenport, Janet Suzman and Wendy Hiller. This is a still-solid mini-series form a
time when they were always smart events; something they rarely are anymore.
The 1.33 X 1 image is a little softer and grainier than
expected, as shot by Peter Jessop, B.S.C., but is nicely shot just the same and
has solid production design as a plus.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 sound is slightly stereo-boosted mono and plays
back well enough. Extras include some
great stills that show the picture quality limits of this set and text on
Mountbatten, as well as the cast.
- Nicholas Sheffo
