![]() ![]() ![]() We referred this to Ann Dinsdale who concurred with us. I understand that some people have been troubled by this as being inappropriate or too contemporary but Branwell would have been mixing with quite a range of individuals as his drinking and opium habit developed and I think it perfectly credible that he would have sworn at all of the family as his life deteriorated. There has, of course, been some coverage in the press over Branwell’s use of the word ‘fuck’. It was an opportunity for them to see the Parsonage and spend time with the staff, work with Sally, benefit from the expertise of people like Ann Dinsdale (Principal Curator at the Parsonage), Juliet Barker (historian and author of The Brontes) and Patsy Stoneman (Bronte scholar), and to bond in a way which I firmly believe contributed a great deal to the success of the film and the strength of their performances. We were very lucky to have rehearsal time with the cast who were playing the family, and they spent a week in Haworth with Sally, where I joined them for a couple of days. ![]() These kinds of decisions are part of the business of producing a drama. We considered whether to excise the flashback scene where Branwell is describing to his father and aunt that he had been robbed in London (while Emily observes from the doorway), but decided that it did important work in terms of establishing character and Emily and Branwell’s relationship, and that it should stay for these reasons. Following up on this, I spent an afternoon in the British Library looking at coaching timetables and journeys to establish that he actually could not have made the journey he is supposed to have made on the dates or times he is thought to have made it, and that the planned trip to London was, indeed, a myth. As Juliet Barker has pointed out, Branwell not only didn’t go to London, but was never intended to do so – there is a letter from Patrick which talks about sending him the following year. I also re-read all the biographical material available and anything Sally didn’t have time to look at, looked up details – for example what information was available at that time on delirium tremens – put together a compendium of descriptions of the Brontes and the various images which are or have been claimed to be them, and also investigated some of the most well-known but possibly unfounded Bronte myths. It’s from the Leeds Intelligencer: Sally wanted something which would have been in the news at that time and of interest to Patrick (it was a story about Irish politics). I’d comment or suggest, but it was always Sally’s script. She made the decision to focus on the period 1845-8, and I agreed with this even though the BBC gave us an extra 30 minutes – making it a120-minute instead of a 90-minute film – to try to fit all the Brontes’ lives – and deaths – into two hours would have been an impossible task. 1845-8 is the period when the writing emerged into the public domain so it made sense to concentrate on that.Ī major part of my role was research for example, I found the newspaper story which Charlotte is reading to her father in one of the early scenes. Sally and I had many, many lengthy discussions, and I read the drafts of the script bit by bit as she wrote them. The literary advisor is there to do just that, advise: the decisions rest with the writer/director and producer. There is no clear ‘job description’ for the role of literary advisor it depends upon the people you are working with and the nature of the project. Sally did a tremendous amount of research and had clear ideas concerning the approach she wanted to take, and it was my job to support that. In 2014 it was green-lit by the BBC, and by the end of that year the process of producing the script began. The Brontë Sisters by Patrick Branwell Brontë restoredĪ drama about the Brontes was something which Sally and I had talked about over a number of years, and I knew it was a topic she had long wanted to do. ![]()
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