Stonehouse, the new true crime series debuting on BritBox, tells the bizarre story of John Stonehouse, a member of the British Parliament in the 1970s. Most true crime stories feature murder, but Stonehouse’s story is about a man whose desire for success, fame, and power turned him into a spy who faked his own death. It sounds serious, but Stonehouse is actually a hilarious story that has disturbing parallels to our modern politics. With a stellar cast of actors and top-notch creators, this is a unique three-episode limited series worth checking out (read our review).
I got the chance to discuss Stonehouse with the cast and creators of the series. Writer John Preston (A Very British Scandal) talked to me about the inspiration for the story and how he adapted it when the stars were cast. Director John S. Baird talked about the approach to telling this insane story...
I got the chance to discuss Stonehouse with the cast and creators of the series. Writer John Preston (A Very British Scandal) talked to me about the inspiration for the story and how he adapted it when the stars were cast. Director John S. Baird talked about the approach to telling this insane story...
- 1/19/2023
- by Alex Maidy
- JoBlo.com
Plot: A three-part drama, based on the extraordinary rise and fall of MP John Stonehouse. As a high-flying member of Harold Wilson’s Labour government and a seemingly devoted family man, Stonehouse’s perfect life spirals out of control in the early 1970s amid rumors of fraud and espionage.
Review: There is no shortage of true crime stories that can be adapted into television dramas, but it takes a unique tale that can make such a series funny. Murder and death don’t tend to work well in humorous adaptations, but when a bizarre series of events is so bafflingly strange and involves no one dying, it can appease many audiences. Coming from the United Kingdom, Stonehouse is a darkly hilarious true crime story that was big news in the 1970s but remained a relatively unknown curiosity in the States. This new three-part limited series adapts the exploits of John Stonehouse,...
Review: There is no shortage of true crime stories that can be adapted into television dramas, but it takes a unique tale that can make such a series funny. Murder and death don’t tend to work well in humorous adaptations, but when a bizarre series of events is so bafflingly strange and involves no one dying, it can appease many audiences. Coming from the United Kingdom, Stonehouse is a darkly hilarious true crime story that was big news in the 1970s but remained a relatively unknown curiosity in the States. This new three-part limited series adapts the exploits of John Stonehouse,...
- 1/18/2023
- by Alex Maidy
- JoBlo.com
Jon S Baird’s miniseries opens in 1960s Westminster, where John Stonehouse (Matthew Macfadyen) is an up-and-comer in the Labour Party. “What do we know about him?” asks prime minister Harold Wilson. “Working-class boy. Parents both trade unionists. Served in the Raf during the war.” Naturally, he’s made aviation minister – a role that takes him to Prague and into the arms of an obvious honey trap. “We would like you to become an unofficial representative of our country in Great Britain,” he’s told, in a smoke-filled Soviet interrogation room, as the film of his tryst is slid across the table. And so begins the decade-long unravelling of his life, a process that will end with him leaving his folded clothes and passport on a Florida beach and swimming out to sea.
Macfadyen is one of Britain’s finest actors, and his performance as Stonehouse rounds out a trilogy...
Macfadyen is one of Britain’s finest actors, and his performance as Stonehouse rounds out a trilogy...
- 1/2/2023
- by Nick Hilton
- The Independent - TV
On 20 November, 1974, a man left his clothes in a neat pile on a Miami beach, walked into the sea, and never returned. Later that day, a waiter at a nearby hotel found the man’s clothes and the police were alerted. A search began, but the man could not be found. That man was John Stonehouse, Labour MP for Walsall North and a former Postmaster General in Harold Wilson’s government.
Stonehouse had been a rising star in Wilson’s government of 1964, with his sights set on high office. But things didn’t go as swimmingly as he’d hoped, and within a few years he was in financial ruin, his marriage was over, he had been questioned by MI5 on suspicion of being a spy for the Czech secret service, and he ended up faking his own death in Miami.
In the new ITV drama, Stonehouse, written by John Preston,...
Stonehouse had been a rising star in Wilson’s government of 1964, with his sights set on high office. But things didn’t go as swimmingly as he’d hoped, and within a few years he was in financial ruin, his marriage was over, he had been questioned by MI5 on suspicion of being a spy for the Czech secret service, and he ended up faking his own death in Miami.
In the new ITV drama, Stonehouse, written by John Preston,...
- 1/2/2023
- by Ellie Harrison
- The Independent - TV
While Emmy-winner Matthew Macfadyen may entertain viewers as the power-hungry Tom Wambsgans on Succession, he’s taking on a whole different kind of corrupt in BritBox’s upcoming three-part drama Stonehouse and we have your exclusive first look at the new trailer. Based on the rise and fall of Labour Minister John Stonehouse (Macfadyen), Stonehouse follows the high-flying member of British Prime Minister Harold Wilson’s Labour government who on the outside appears to be a devoted family mad, but descends into chaos as his perfect life spirals out of control in the early 1970s amid rumors of fraud and espionage. (Credit: BritBox) Set to premiere on BritBox beginning Tuesday, January 17, 2023, the series is inspired by the extraordinary true story of events surrounding Stonehouse’s vanishing from a Florida beach in 1974. It is written by John Preston (A Very English Scandal) and directed by Jon S. Baird (Stan & Ollie), both...
- 12/21/2022
- TV Insider
On 20 November, 1974, a man left his clothes in a neat pile on a Miami beach, walked into the sea, and never returned. Later that day, a waiter at a nearby hotel found the man’s clothes and the police were alerted. A search began, but the man could not be found. That man was John Stonehouse, Labour MP for Walsall North and a former Postmaster General in Harold Wilson’s government.
Stonehouse had been a rising star in Wilson’s government of 1964, with his sights set on high office. But things didn’t go as swimmingly as he’d hoped, and within a few years he was in financial ruin, his marriage was over, he had been questioned by MI5 on suspicion of being a spy for the Czech secret service, and he ended up faking his own death in Miami.
In the new ITV drama, Stonehouse, written by John Preston,...
Stonehouse had been a rising star in Wilson’s government of 1964, with his sights set on high office. But things didn’t go as swimmingly as he’d hoped, and within a few years he was in financial ruin, his marriage was over, he had been questioned by MI5 on suspicion of being a spy for the Czech secret service, and he ended up faking his own death in Miami.
In the new ITV drama, Stonehouse, written by John Preston,...
- 12/17/2022
- by Ellie Harrison
- The Independent - TV
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