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The Crow Road (TV series)

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The Crow Road
DVD cover
GenreDrama
Based onThe Crow Road by Iain Banks
Written byBryan Elsley
Directed byGavin Millar
StarringJoe McFadden
Bill Paterson
Peter Capaldi
Valerie Edmond
Dougray Scott
ComposerColin Towns
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes4 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersAndrea Calderwood
Kevin Loader
Franc Roddam
ProducerBradley Adams
Production locationsArdkinglas House, Cairndow, Argyll and Bute, Scotland, United Kingdom
CinematographyJohn Else
Running time58 min
Production companyUnion Pictures
Original release
NetworkBBC Scotland
Release4 November (1996-11-04) –
25 November 1996 (1996-11-25)

The Crow Road is a four-part television miniseries by BBC Scotland in 1996, based faithfully on the 1992 novel of the same name by Scottish novelist Iain Banks. It was directed by Gavin Millar.[1]

Summary

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The cast includes Joseph McFadden as Prentice McHoan, Bill Paterson as his father, Dougray Scott as his older brother (another, younger brother in the novel has been written out here) and Peter Capaldi as his missing uncle Rory, who via a narrative device employed in the adaptation, visits the thoughtful Prentice when he is alone.[2] The production was nominated as Best Drama Serial at the 1997 British Academy Television Awards. Following the success of this TV serial, the same team went on to adapt Banks's Complicity as a feature film.[3]

Cast

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Critical reception

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Reviewing the DVD box set in 2015, The Guardian wrote "the best TV adaptations capture the spirit of the original while adding something of their own – and The Crow Road, which first aired almost 20 years ago, is one of the finest adaptations of them all, managing to distil Bank’s complex tale into four hours of sharply evocative TV."[4]

Episodes

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No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
1"Prentice"Gavin MillarBryan Elsley4 November 1996 (1996-11-04)
Prentice returns home from university for his grandmother's funeral where he meets old friends and relatives. He takes it upon himself to find out more about his uncle Rory's disappearance six years ago.
2"Kenneth"Gavin MillarBryan Elsley11 November 1996 (1996-11-11)
After drunkenly making a fool of himself at his Uncle Fergus' New Year's Eve party, Prentice has a talk with his father. His father sheds a little light on Rory's disappearance, but the father and son relationship sours once again.
3"Fergus"Gavin MillarBryan Elsley18 November 1996 (1996-11-18)
Prentice learns more about the past when he finds old floppy disks containing portions of the book Rory was writing. Meanwhile, Rory continues to haunt him whenever he's alone.
4"Rory"Gavin MillarBryan Elsley25 November 1996 (1996-11-25)
Prentice gradually begins to close on the truth behind Rory's disappearance. But will his discovery only sour his feelings for his beloved uncle?

References

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  1. ^ "The Crow Road" – via imdb.com.
  2. ^ "The Crow Road". 4 August 2008 – via Amazon.
  3. ^ "BBC Four - The Crow Road, Original". BBC.
  4. ^ "The Crow Road box set review: a masterful adaptation of Iain Banks's addictive family saga". the Guardian. 23 April 2015.
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