Brideshead.Revisited.TV.Drama.Series(1981).BHM

Episodes

Episode 1: Et in Arcadia Ego (Original UK airdate 12 October 1981; 100 minutes)

In the spring of 1944, disillusioned Army captain Charles Ryder is moving his company to a new Brigade Headquarters at a secret location he discovers his Brideshead, once home to the Marchmain family and the scene of both pleasant and anguished visits for the younger Charles. Seeing the house for the first time in many years prompts a recollection of his first meeting with Lord Sebastian Flyte, the Marchmain's younger son, at Oxford University in 1922. The two young men quickly bond and, although his cousin warns him to avoid Sebastian and his inner circle of friends, Charles is fascinated by them, particularly flamboyantly foppish Anthony Blanche. Short on funds, Charles finds himself fitfully spending the summer holidays in London with his indifferent and rigid father Edward until an urgent message from Sebastian sends him to Brideshead, where Charles is introduced to a world of wealth and privilege dominated by an almost pathological devotion to Catholicism.

Episode 2: Home and Abroad (Original UK airdate 19 October 1981; 53 minutes)

At Brideshead, Charles is introduced to Sebastian's younger sisters Julia and Cordelia and his older brother Bridey. The two young men decide to accept an invitation to Venice extended by Sebastian's father, Lord Marchmain, who lives there with his mistress Cara.

Episode 3: The Bleak Light of Day (Original UK airdate 26 October 1981; 53 minutes)

Back at Oxford, Sebastian learns his mother has arranged for him to be tutored - and carefully supervised - by Mr. Samgrass. Lady Marchmain visits the university and implores Charles to be a good influence on her rowdy son. Invited to a charity ball in London by Julia, Charles and Sebastian escape to a seedy gentlemen's club in Soho club. After a drunken Sebastian crashes their car, the political and social power of ambitious MP Rex Mottram and Mr. Samgrass result in Sebastian being let off with only a fine.

Episode 4: Sebastian Against the World (Original UK airdate 2 November 1981; 53 minutes)

Sebastian's rapid descent into alcoholism leads him into constant trouble, despite the ever-watchful eye of Mr. Samgrass. During Easter holiday at Brideshead, Charles tries to reason with a constantly inebriated Sebastian, who accuses him being a spy for Lady Marchmain. Sebastian's failure to reform leads to his dismissal from Oxford, and a bereft Charles returns to London to ask his father permission to leave the university in order to study art abroad.

Episode 5: A Blow Upon a Bruise (Original UK airdate 9 November 1981; 51 minutes)

Charles returns from his art studies in Paris and journeys to Brideshead for the 1925 New Year's celebration. Sebastian has returned from an excursion to the Levant with Mr. Samgrass, but photographs of the holiday and comments made by the two clearly indicate Sebastian frequently went off on his own to satisfy his hedonistic needs. Sebastian agrees to participate in a hunt but, knowing he plans to make an early escape to a pub, he asks Charles for money and his friend acquiesces. When Sebastian returns home heavily inebriated at the end of the day, a distressed Lady Marchmain questions Charles. Learning he financed Sebastian's drinking binge, she rebukes him for enabling him, and Charles leaves Brideshead, fully expecting never to return.

Episode 6: Julia (Original UK airdate 16 November 1981; 51 minutes)

Charles returns to Paris, where he is visited by Rex Mottram, who is searching for Sebastian and the money he stole before he disappeared. Rex discusses the financial woes of the Marchmain family and announces he intends to marry Julia nonetheless. Lady Marchmain reluctantly consents to the marriage as long as Rex converts to Catholicism, a condition he is willing to accept. But when Bridey learns Rex has a former wife who is living, a situation the Church will not abide, he cancels the wedding, and a defiant Julia marries Rex in a Protestant ceremony her family, with the exception of Cordelia, refuses to attend.

Episode 7: The Unseen Hook (Original UK airdate 23 November 1981; 51 minutes)

In May 1926, Charles returns to England to volunteer his services during the General Strike. While delivering milk in the East End, he encounters Boy Mulcaster, who tells him Sebastian is living in Fez. Julia tells Charles her dying mother is anxious to make amends with her prodigal son, and he agrees to go to Morocco and bring him home. He discovers Sebastian, who has been living with a disabled deserter from the German Army, is a chronic alcoholic and has been hospitalized with pneumonia. He finds his friend emaciated and dissipated, unwilling to follow doctor's orders, and disinclined to leave Kurt alone. Before Charles departs Morocco, he learns Lady Marchmain has died.

Episode 8: Brideshead Deserted (Original UK airdate 30 November 1981; 52 minutes)

Bridey commissions Charles to paint four scenes of Marchmain House in London, which has been sold in order to rectify the family's financial difficulties, before it is demolished to make way for a block of flats. He is reunited with Cordelia, who regrets the ongoing dissolution of her family but assures Charles she continues to find strength in her undying faith. Charles spends two years in Mexico and Central America painting the local architecture, then has an awkward reunion with his wife Celia in New York City before the two sail home. On board ship, the two discover Julia is a fellow passenger.

Episode 9: Orphans of the Storm (Original UK airdate 7 December 1981; 53 minutes)

Celia is bedridden with chronic seasickness prompted by extremely rough seas, leaving Charles and Julia to become reacquainted, and the two become lovers before reaching Southampton. Back in London, at an exhibition of her husband's latest artwork, Celia implies she knows about his affair with Julia. Anthony Blanche arrives at the gallery late and invites Charles to join him for a drink in a seedy gay bar, where he viciously criticizes his talent and paintings. Charles and Julia depart for Brideshead, where Rex is awaiting his wife.

Episode 10: A Twitch Upon the Thread (Original UK airdate 14 December 1981; 52 minutes)

Lovers for two years, Charles and Julia plan to divorce their respective spouses and marry each other. When Bridey announces his engagement, Julia suggests he invite his fiancée to Brideshead, but he refuses to allow a highly moral and staunchly Catholic woman to associate with the adulterous couple, and his comments stir feelings of guilt in his sister. Cordelia returns from ministering to the wounded in the Spanish Civil War with disturbing news about Sebastian's nomadic existence and steady decline over the past few years.

Episode 11: Brideshead Revisited (Original UK airdate 21 December 1981; 90 minutes)

In 1939, World War II is imminent. After years of self-imposed exile in Venice, Lord Marchmain decides to return home. Appalled by Bridey's choice of a wife, he announces he plans to leave Brideshead to Julia and Charles. When Bridey brings a priest to visit his father, Lord Marchmain is enraged and sends him away, then meets with his lawyers to change his will. On his deathbead, he reclaims Catholicism and Julia, more certain of the power of faith than ever before, tells Charles she needs God more than him and sends him away. Returning to Brideshead in 1944, Charles visits the chapel and finds the sanctuary lamp is still burning.