The Prisoner of Zenda

Last Update: 09 February 1998


Stories began to surface in UK newspapers a few years ago about a television remake of The Prisoner of Zenda. In 1994 and 1995 it was reported that Sean would star, playing the part of the English toff and the king he impersonates. The budget for the proposed BBC film was reported to be £3million.

One undated article reported that the BBC Screen One film was "being shot this summer" and will "be shown at Christmas". Sean had by that time finished Lady Chatterley, and another series of Sharpe, and the (then) new Bond film, GoldenEye. The film was being independently produced for the BBC by Zenda Films and Canada's Atlantis Films, and would be shot in the Ukraine from July. The screenplay was by Charles Wood.

On 11th May 1995, a snippet appeared reporting "TV heart-throb Sean" landed a £150,000 deal for the film.

A final article (1995, exact date unknown) reported plans for the lavish remake had fallen through, and that Sean would be working on a new series of Sharpe later that year. And "the beginning of 1996 should see release of his Sheffield United drama, When Saturday Comes, filmed in the city last year".

(Thanks to Jane Lucas for these details.)

 


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