781 North and South

First  viewed : December  1986

This  epic  US  mini-series   about  the   American  Civil  War  was  based  on  a  set  of  novels  by  John  Jakes  and  was  a  worthy  successor  to  The  Thorn  Birds  in  the  trash  stakes. I  only  dipped  in  and  out  but  my  mum  and  sister  watched  it  throughout. The  latter  had  been  to  the  US  during  the  summer  and  seen  one  of  the  major  locations  used  in  the  series.

It  concerned  two  friends  Orry  ( Patrick  Swayze )  and  George  ( James  Read )  who  were  at  military  academy  together  but  then  find  themselves  on  opposite  sides  in  the  conflict  and  of  course  keep  bumping  into  each  other.  Orry's  simpering  love  interest  Madeline  was  played  by  English  actress  Lesley-Anne  Down; she  was  32  at  the  time  and  as  Upstairs  Downstairs   was  literally  half  a  lifetime  ago  for  me,   it  was  very  difficult  to  accept  her  as  an  ingenue  with  a  Southern  accent. Kirstie  Alley  was  also  in  it  as  George's  sister  Virgilia, an  anti-slavery  fanatic. Historical  figures  popped  up  regularly  with  Hal  Holbrook  playing  Lincoln.

The  cast  also  featured  many  Hollywood  vets  slumming  it  including  repeat  offenders  Jean  Simmonds  and  Robert  Mitchum   but  also  James  Stewart  and  Olivia  de Havilland.

There  was  a  shorter  second  series  made in  1994  but  if  it  was  shown  in   the  UK  I  never  saw  it.