The Great Fire (TV series)


The Great Fire is a four-part television drama first shown on ITV from 16 October to 6 November 2014. It is set during the Great Fire of London in England in 1666. It was written by Tom Bradby and produced by Ecosse Films. Each hour-long episode is set in one day of the fire.

Plot

The series portrays events from the points of view of the Farriner family, in whose bakery on Pudding Lane the fire started, and of the royal court in responding to the fire.
The storyline adds depictions never recorded from the real event. The fire was shown as starting when Farriner's daughter left the oven's stoke-hatch open and its fire ejected a hot ember which ignited loose straw on the wooden floor. It suggests Farriner had a contract to supply baked goods to the Royal Navy and was suffering financial difficulties as a result of their persistently delaying payment. It also follows a sub-plot in which there is a suspected Catholic plot to kill King Charles II, in which the Farriners become suspected of complicity.

Cast

Filming locations

Cobham Hall was used to film some of the London street scenes and Penshurst Place in Kent doubled as the exterior of the King's palace.

Reception

The Guardian was moderately positive, describing it as, 'decent enough drama, if not quite as great as its title would like it to be, and it is lifted by a fine cast, particularly Charles Dance as the sinister intelligence officer Lord Denton.' The Independent also praised the cast, but said the series lacked suspense. The Telegraph gave it two stars.