Mr Selfridge

[tammyy2j]

Award-winning actor JEREMY PIVEN (Entourage) will lead the cast as American entrepreneur, Harry Gordon Selfridge, in new drama Mr Selfridge (working title), about the life of the flamboyant and visionary American entrepreneur, produced by ITV Studios for ITV1.



Created by multi-award winning writer Andrew Davies, Mr Selfridge tells the story of ‘Mile a Minute Harry’, a man with a mission to make shopping as thrilling as sex. Pioneering and reckless, with an almost manic energy, he created a theatre of retail where any topic or trend that was new, exciting, entertaining - or sometimes just eccentric - was showcased.



Jeremy Piven takes on the role as Mr Selfridge following a successful eight-season run on hit drama Entourage, in which he won three Emmys and a Golden Globe for his portrayal as Ari Gold. Born and raised in Chicago, Piven has a successful career on stage and screen with credits including, Runaway Jury, Old School, Black Hawk Down, Serendipity and Guy Ritchie’s Rocknrolla. Piven also starred as Boddy Gould in Broadway hit Speed-the-Plow and in Neil LaBute's Fat Pig. Most recently, he appeared in films Angels Crest, starring alongside Elizabeth McGovern, Mira Sorvino, Kate Walsh and Lynn Collins, and I Melt With You, which premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film festival.



Joining Piven in Mr Selfridge is KATHERINE KELLY (Coronation Street) as the confident and alluring socialite Lady Mae, whose connections prove vital for Harry as he builds his empire.



Also starring is FRANCES O’CONNOR (Piccadilly Jim) who will play Harry’s wife Rose, acclaimed French actor GRÉGORY FITOUSSI (Spiral) as Henri Leclair, Harry’s flamboyant creative director, AISLING LOFTUS (The Borrowers, Dive) as shop assistant Agnes, TRYSTAN GRAVELLE (Anonymous) as ladies’ man Victor, the Assistant Manager at Selfridges in-store restaurant, and ZOË TAPPER (Desperate Romantics) playing a celebrated stage entertainer, Ellen Love, who becomes the new ‘face’ of Selfridges.



The drama is set in London in 1909, at a time when women were revelling in a new sense of freedom and modernity. Harry wanted to indulge, empower and celebrate these women and so opened the doors of his lavish department store, on London’s famous Oxford Street.



Through the innovations and spectacular events Harry staged within the store, the stories will shine a light on hidden moments of the history of women, be it fashion, cosmetics, technology or domestic affairs.



Harry’s colourful life will play out against the rich tapestry of London at the turn of the century. In his leisure hours he was a gambler, and although happily married, he enjoyed the company of glamorous show girls and film stars. His womanising was legendary and he very much lived life in the fast lane.



Based upon the book Shopping, Seduction and Mr Selfridge by author Lindy Woodhead which is the account of the real life story of Harry Gordon Selfridge and his store, the series will go into production in April in London for transmission on ITV1 during 2013.



Andrew Davies and his writing team have cherry picked the most intriguing aspects of Harry’s real life and used them as a spring-board to create a big, glamorous city story. There is a rich cast of fictional characters to fall in love with, whose fortunes are all interlinked with his own extraordinary story. From the opulent life of London’s social elite, to the bright lights, glamour and back-stage intrigue of London’s theatres, from board rooms, private poker games and smoky music halls to the working men and women trying to make their own success, this is period drama firmly set in the advent of modernity.



The ten x 60 minute episodes of Mr Selfridge will be produced by Chrissy Skinns (Marchlands, Secret Diary of a Call Girl) and executive produced by ITV Studios Drama’s Kate Lewis. Andrew Davies (Bleak House, Pride and Prejudice) is the lead writer alongside Kate Brooke (Case Sensitive, Murder in the Outback) and Kate O’Riordan (The Bad Mother’s Handbook, The Kindness of Strangers). The first director will be Jon Jones (Titanic, Northanger Abbey).



Mr Selfridge



Said Peter: "The story of Harry Selfridge and how he transformed the world of retail is fantastically rich territory. Andrew Davies and the team have created a compelling and entertaining series that is part family saga and part workplace drama."



Kate Lewis, Executive Producer for ITV Studios added: "It’s impossible to read about the real Harry Selfridge and not be enthralled. Here’s a man that had it all and lost it all in the most spectacular fashion. His life and the extraordinary legacy he left behind are dripping with drama."



Mr Selfridge

will be distributed internationally by ITV Studios Global Entertainment. has been commissioned by ITV’s Director of Television, Peter Fincham, Director of Drama Commissioning Laura Mackie and Controller of Drama Sally Haynes.

http://www.itv.com/presscentre/press...v/default.html

[alan45]

Mr Selfridge
Episode: 1 of 10
Sunday, 6 January 2013, 9:00PM - 10:30PM
Drama


Award-winning actor Jeremy Piven (Entourage) leads the cast as Harry Gordon Selfridge in new drama series Mr Selfridge, about the life of the flamboyant and visionary American entrepreneur.

Created by multi-award winning writer Andrew Davies, Mr Selfridge tells the story of ‘Mile a Minute Harry’, a man with a mission to make shopping as thrilling as sex. Pioneering and reckless, with an almost manic energy, he created a theatre of retail where any topic or trend that was new, exciting, entertaining – or sometimes just eccentric – was showcased.



Episode One

London, 1908
AGNES TOWLER, a young shop girl at Gamages department store, is bemused and slightly anxious when a colourful American customer cheekily encourages her to empty her stock onto the glove counter. He says he’s ‘just looking’, which is simply unheard of! AGNES deftly presents him with a gorgeous pair of fine red leather gloves. Her product knowledge is impeccable and her passion very clear. After the customer is asked to leave, AGNES is dismayed to be dismissed for the incident. How will AGNES pay her rent? Especially as her little brother GEORGE is also jobless. As she collects her cards, she receives a gift. The pair of red leather gloves with a card from HARRY GORDON SELFRIDGE.

Meanwhile, the bold retailer HARRY SELFRIDGE is assembling his great plans for the biggest and finest department store the world has ever seen at the ‘dead end’ of Oxford Street. Facing a frosty reception from the anti-American press, HARRY runs into unexpected trouble when his business partner WARING suddenly pulls out of the project, which leaves the life of the project hanging in the balance. But HARRY’S luck is up when journalist FRANK EDWARDS throws HARRY a lifeline, offering to show new-to-town HARRY around London and introduce him to the right people.

HARRY’S family arrive in London from Chicago. His beautiful and grounded wife ROSE accompanies his four children ROSALIE, VIOLETTE, GORDON and BEATRICE, and his mother LOIS as they move into their extravagant central London home. ROSE in anxious about fitting into London life, and HARRY doesn’t want to worry her. So he turns to his mother LOIS for advice about the missing money for the project. They came from nothing in provincial America – does he think he’ll let a blip like this get in his way?

Buoyed by LOIS’ enduring support, HARRY pushes on. FRANK EDWARDS introduces HARRY to the formidable socialite LADY MAE LOXLEY. One of the most connected women in London, it is via her that HARRY secures a new investor and the future of Selfridge’s is saved. Smart, savvy and keen to be ahead of the curve, LADY MAE makes it clear that HARRY, and Selfridge’s, lies firmly in her debt. Using the newest engineering techniques and building materials available, the building goes up in record time. Selfridge’s is born.

London, 1909
HARRY recruits his new top team. MR CRABB, Chief Accountant who is always worried about the figures; the stoic Chief of Staff MR GROVE who is cool, calm and in control; the handsome Frenchman HENRI LECLAIR in charge of Window Displays and Store Presentation; the formidable MISS MARDLE, Head of Accessories; and the timid MISS BUNTING, Head of Fashion.

Word of the impending store opening spreads through London, and AGNES, who’s been struggling to make ends meet, approaches HARRY for a job. He remembers her, and agrees to hire her! On recruitment day, queues of prospective employees build in the street, and we meet AGNES again who is fast-tracked by ‘The Chief’ himself to a job as a Senior Assistant in Accessories. Fellow assistants KITTY and DORIS aren’t best impressed. We also meet cheeky chap VICTOR who joins the Palm Court Restaurant, and we see he’s definitely taken a shine to Agnes!

FRANK also introduces HARRY to the stunning ELLEN LOVE, a Gaiety girl whom HARRY employs as the ‘Spirit of Selfridge’s’. But there is a sizzling chemistry between them, and we sense that there’s more than business between them to come…

Opening day in March 1909 is a great success, attracting huge crowds, but with one significant problem: disappointing takings. HARRY could still be ruined yet.

[alan45]

Mr Selfridge
Episode: 1 of 10
Sunday, 6 January 2013, 9:00PM - 10:30PM
Drama


Award-winning actor Jeremy Piven (Entourage) leads the cast as Harry Gordon Selfridge in new drama series Mr Selfridge, about the life of the flamboyant and visionary American entrepreneur.

Created by multi-award winning writer Andrew Davies, Mr Selfridge tells the story of ‘Mile a Minute Harry’, a man with a mission to make shopping as thrilling as sex. Pioneering and reckless, with an almost manic energy, he created a theatre of retail where any topic or trend that was new, exciting, entertaining – or sometimes just eccentric – was showcased.



Episode One

London, 1908
AGNES TOWLER, a young shop girl at Gamages department store, is bemused and slightly anxious when a colourful American customer cheekily encourages her to empty her stock onto the glove counter. He says he’s ‘just looking’, which is simply unheard of! AGNES deftly presents him with a gorgeous pair of fine red leather gloves. Her product knowledge is impeccable and her passion very clear. After the customer is asked to leave, AGNES is dismayed to be dismissed for the incident. How will AGNES pay her rent? Especially as her little brother GEORGE is also jobless. As she collects her cards, she receives a gift. The pair of red leather gloves with a card from HARRY GORDON SELFRIDGE.

Meanwhile, the bold retailer HARRY SELFRIDGE is assembling his great plans for the biggest and finest department store the world has ever seen at the ‘dead end’ of Oxford Street. Facing a frosty reception from the anti-American press, HARRY runs into unexpected trouble when his business partner WARING suddenly pulls out of the project, which leaves the life of the project hanging in the balance. But HARRY’S luck is up when journalist FRANK EDWARDS throws HARRY a lifeline, offering to show new-to-town HARRY around London and introduce him to the right people.

HARRY’S family arrive in London from Chicago. His beautiful and grounded wife ROSE accompanies his four children ROSALIE, VIOLETTE, GORDON and BEATRICE, and his mother LOIS as they move into their extravagant central London home. ROSE in anxious about fitting into London life, and HARRY doesn’t want to worry her. So he turns to his mother LOIS for advice about the missing money for the project. They came from nothing in provincial America – does he think he’ll let a blip like this get in his way?

Buoyed by LOIS’ enduring support, HARRY pushes on. FRANK EDWARDS introduces HARRY to the formidable socialite LADY MAE LOXLEY. One of the most connected women in London, it is via her that HARRY secures a new investor and the future of Selfridge’s is saved. Smart, savvy and keen to be ahead of the curve, LADY MAE makes it clear that HARRY, and Selfridge’s, lies firmly in her debt. Using the newest engineering techniques and building materials available, the building goes up in record time. Selfridge’s is born.

London, 1909
HARRY recruits his new top team. MR CRABB, Chief Accountant who is always worried about the figures; the stoic Chief of Staff MR GROVE who is cool, calm and in control; the handsome Frenchman HENRI LECLAIR in charge of Window Displays and Store Presentation; the formidable MISS MARDLE, Head of Accessories; and the timid MISS BUNTING, Head of Fashion.

Word of the impending store opening spreads through London, and AGNES, who’s been struggling to make ends meet, approaches HARRY for a job. He remembers her, and agrees to hire her! On recruitment day, queues of prospective employees build in the street, and we meet AGNES again who is fast-tracked by ‘The Chief’ himself to a job as a Senior Assistant in Accessories. Fellow assistants KITTY and DORIS aren’t best impressed. We also meet cheeky chap VICTOR who joins the Palm Court Restaurant, and we see he’s definitely taken a shine to Agnes!

FRANK also introduces HARRY to the stunning ELLEN LOVE, a Gaiety girl whom HARRY employs as the ‘Spirit of Selfridge’s’. But there is a sizzling chemistry between them, and we sense that there’s more than business between them to come…

Opening day in March 1909 is a great success, attracting huge crowds, but with one significant problem: disappointing takings. HARRY could still be ruined yet.

[tammyy2j]

Quite a short trailer

[tammyy2j]

.

[alan45]

Mr Selfridge
Episode: 2 of 10
Sunday, 13 January 2013, 9:00PM - 10:00PM
Drama


Episode two:

Selfridge’s has now been open for a few months. The displays are still as dazzling and seductive as on opening day, and the staff are ready and poised for action. The only thing the store is missing...is customers! The store is eerily quiet. Publicly, HARRY is confident, but privately he is worried. He needs a coup for the store, something to put it on the map in the eyes of the public.

HARRY has dashed to the country with FRANK, where they wait in a field...and then it arrives. A rickety-looking flying machine emerges from the clouds and soars overheard. HARRY looks on in wonderment. It’s the first ever airplane to cross the Channel, and HARRY skilfully secures it from aviator MONSIEUR BLÉRIOT for a grand exhibition in store.

[alan45]

Mr Selfridge
Episode: 2 of 10
Sunday, 13 January 2013, 9:00PM - 10:00PM
Drama


Episode two:

Selfridge’s has now been open for a few months. The displays are still as dazzling and seductive as on opening day, and the staff are ready and poised for action. The only thing the store is missing...is customers! The store is eerily quiet. Publicly, HARRY is confident, but privately he is worried. He needs a coup for the store, something to put it on the map in the eyes of the public.

HARRY has dashed to the country with FRANK, where they wait in a field...and then it arrives. A rickety-looking flying machine emerges from the clouds and soars overheard. HARRY looks on in wonderment. It’s the first ever airplane to cross the Channel, and HARRY skilfully secures it from aviator MONSIEUR BLÉRIOT for a grand exhibition in store.

[lizann]

ari gold in a period drama

[alan45]

Episode: 3 of 10
Sunday, 20 January 2013, 9:00PM - 10:00PM
Drama


Award-winning actor JEREMY PIVEN (Entourage) leads the cast as American entrepreneur, Harry Gordon Selfridge, in new drama Mr Selfridge, about the life of the flamboyant and visionary American entrepreneur, produced by ITV Studios for ITV1.

Episode 3 (of 10)

HARRY (Jeremy Piven) and ELLEN (Zoe Tapper) are now in the midst of their new love affair. At her sumptuous new apartment, provided by HARRY, they dance into the night. ELLEN shows a glimpse of the vulnerable girl behind the mask; she talks about her father and reveals her real name, Joyce. HARRY watches on as ELLEN applies her makeup – he’s fascinated, and gets thinking about the possible next zeitgeist in retail: cosmetics.

AGNES’S drunk and nasty father, REG (Nick Moran) has been sacked from his job. He loses his temper with AGNES (Aisling Loftus), hitting her hard across the face. Meanwhile, a naturally beautiful ROSE (Frances O’Connor) sits at her dressing table in the morning light, with cheerful thoughts of her new friend RODDY (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) to keep her company…

HARRY announces his new idea to his senior staff: to move perfume out of the pharmacy and sell it on the ground floor by the front entrance. He wants to experiment by putting Beauty products such as lipstick and rouge above the counter - much to the disdain of his staff! Beauty products are still considered incredibly risqué! HARRY seeks advice from a friend of HENRI’S who works for advertising agency J Walter Thompson: the chic, fashionable and very French VALERIE MAUREL (Josephine de la Baume). Little does everyone know that VALERIE is an old flame of HENRI’S.

There’s chatter amongst the staff about ELLEN and HARRY, and this reaches fever pitch when LOIS comes to the store only to see HARRY and ELLEN publicly dancing on the shop floor. LOIS clocks exactly what’s going on; she senses danger when it comes to ELLEN.

At home, ROSALIE (Poppy Lee Friar) is bored in London. She wants to ‘come out’ into London Society – but ROSE isn’t sure. The English have pretty strict rules about that sort of thing; it might not be possible to formally launch into Society with an American father, especially one who’s in commerce. ROSE decides to seek the help of LADY MAE (Katherine Kelly), who agrees to help young ROSALIE. LADY MAE also warns ROSE not to underestimate chorus girl ELLEN, revealing she was once a chorus girl too. She reveals HARRY has provided ELLEN with a new apartment, leaving ROSE crushed.

HENRI (Grégory Fitoussi) is down about VALERIE returning to the States, so HARRY takes him out on the town to cheer him up. They go to see ELLEN’S show and then onto a soiree with FRANK EDWARDS (Samuel West) where HARRY indulges in his biggest vice - gambling – triumphantly beating LADY MAE’S young lover TONY (Will Payne) at a card game.

VICTOR is still trying to woo AGNES, whilst she is cleverly concealing her bruise with makeup. Upon her return to work, HENRI whisks AGNES off to help design the new Selfridge’s House perfume. As AGNES gives HENRI the idea of The Lily of the Valley, we get the sense of a blossoming bond between them.

HARRY wants ELLEN to endorse the new perfume. As HENRI works on a new set of photos with ELLEN, and cunningly takes her down a peg by encouraging her to be ultra-risqué in the pictures, knowing HARRY would never approve them for use. ELLEN is left humiliated; for HARRY, the slightly seedy reality of his affair with ELLEN hits home for the first time.

The new location of the Beauty and perfume at the front of the store is a massive success. But still unsure about makeup, HARRY agrees to move it up front – but with less fanfare. Selfridges is a family store after all.

Angry about TONY losing her money to HARRY at the card game, LADY MAE levers a favour out of HARRY: she wants him to actively support Women’s Suffrage by selling memorabilia and offering a weekly meeting table in the heart of the Palm Court.

At the theatre, ELLEN notices that HARRY’S usual seat in the auditorium is empty. He’s home early to see ROSE and the children, only to find that ROSE is out. Little does he know she’s with RODDY at his studio, and is the subject of his next painting…

[alan45]

Episode: 3 of 10
Sunday, 20 January 2013, 9:00PM - 10:00PM
Drama


Award-winning actor JEREMY PIVEN (Entourage) leads the cast as American entrepreneur, Harry Gordon Selfridge, in new drama Mr Selfridge, about the life of the flamboyant and visionary American entrepreneur, produced by ITV Studios for ITV1.

Episode 3 (of 10)

HARRY (Jeremy Piven) and ELLEN (Zoe Tapper) are now in the midst of their new love affair. At her sumptuous new apartment, provided by HARRY, they dance into the night. ELLEN shows a glimpse of the vulnerable girl behind the mask; she talks about her father and reveals her real name, Joyce. HARRY watches on as ELLEN applies her makeup – he’s fascinated, and gets thinking about the possible next zeitgeist in retail: cosmetics.

AGNES’S drunk and nasty father, REG (Nick Moran) has been sacked from his job. He loses his temper with AGNES (Aisling Loftus), hitting her hard across the face. Meanwhile, a naturally beautiful ROSE (Frances O’Connor) sits at her dressing table in the morning light, with cheerful thoughts of her new friend RODDY (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) to keep her company…

HARRY announces his new idea to his senior staff: to move perfume out of the pharmacy and sell it on the ground floor by the front entrance. He wants to experiment by putting Beauty products such as lipstick and rouge above the counter - much to the disdain of his staff! Beauty products are still considered incredibly risqué! HARRY seeks advice from a friend of HENRI’S who works for advertising agency J Walter Thompson: the chic, fashionable and very French VALERIE MAUREL (Josephine de la Baume). Little does everyone know that VALERIE is an old flame of HENRI’S.

There’s chatter amongst the staff about ELLEN and HARRY, and this reaches fever pitch when LOIS comes to the store only to see HARRY and ELLEN publicly dancing on the shop floor. LOIS clocks exactly what’s going on; she senses danger when it comes to ELLEN.

At home, ROSALIE (Poppy Lee Friar) is bored in London. She wants to ‘come out’ into London Society – but ROSE isn’t sure. The English have pretty strict rules about that sort of thing; it might not be possible to formally launch into Society with an American father, especially one who’s in commerce. ROSE decides to seek the help of LADY MAE (Katherine Kelly), who agrees to help young ROSALIE. LADY MAE also warns ROSE not to underestimate chorus girl ELLEN, revealing she was once a chorus girl too. She reveals HARRY has provided ELLEN with a new apartment, leaving ROSE crushed.

HENRI (Grégory Fitoussi) is down about VALERIE returning to the States, so HARRY takes him out on the town to cheer him up. They go to see ELLEN’S show and then onto a soiree with FRANK EDWARDS (Samuel West) where HARRY indulges in his biggest vice - gambling – triumphantly beating LADY MAE’S young lover TONY (Will Payne) at a card game.

VICTOR is still trying to woo AGNES, whilst she is cleverly concealing her bruise with makeup. Upon her return to work, HENRI whisks AGNES off to help design the new Selfridge’s House perfume. As AGNES gives HENRI the idea of The Lily of the Valley, we get the sense of a blossoming bond between them.

HARRY wants ELLEN to endorse the new perfume. As HENRI works on a new set of photos with ELLEN, and cunningly takes her down a peg by encouraging her to be ultra-risqué in the pictures, knowing HARRY would never approve them for use. ELLEN is left humiliated; for HARRY, the slightly seedy reality of his affair with ELLEN hits home for the first time.

The new location of the Beauty and perfume at the front of the store is a massive success. But still unsure about makeup, HARRY agrees to move it up front – but with less fanfare. Selfridges is a family store after all.

Angry about TONY losing her money to HARRY at the card game, LADY MAE levers a favour out of HARRY: she wants him to actively support Women’s Suffrage by selling memorabilia and offering a weekly meeting table in the heart of the Palm Court.

At the theatre, ELLEN notices that HARRY’S usual seat in the auditorium is empty. He’s home early to see ROSE and the children, only to find that ROSE is out. Little does he know she’s with RODDY at his studio, and is the subject of his next painting…