Bouquet of Barbed Wire

Bouquet of Barbed Wire is a British television series based on a 1969 novel by Andrea Newman. The series – whose title comes from an incident that occurred to Newman while on a walk – was made by London Weekend Television for ITV in 1976. A new adaptation of the novel was made in 2010.

Outline

The story follows the middle-class Manson family over one hot summer as it is torn apart by the manipulative daughter, Prue (Susan Penhaligon), who, having just begun at university, becomes pregnant and marries an American, Gavin Sorensen (James Aubrey). Prue's father, Peter (Frank Finlay), cannot contain his jealousy and obsessive love for his daughter. For his part, Gavin is focused on seducing Prue's mother Cassie (Sheila Allen), who obliges as a relief from Peter.

The series was considered highly risqué for the time, but was a considerable success. The critic Clive James wrote "by the end, everybody had been to bed with everybody else except the baby."

A sequel, Another Bouquet, was made in 1977 and was written for television before being published as a novel. Both Bouquet of Barbed Wire and Another Bouquet are available on DVD.

Cast

2010 Adaptation

The novel was adapted again in 2010 for ITV by Mammoth Screen, as a three-part series broadcast by ITV on 7th–20th September 2010. Written by Guy Andrews and directed by Ashley Pearce, it starred Trevor Eve as Peter...
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