Tragedy and passion of Brontë sisters inspires a BBC drama
THE DIFFICULT home life of the Brontës will be brought to life in a new BBC1 drama about the literary sisters, written and directed by Last Tango In Halifax author Sally Wainwright.
The one-off, two-hour drama will follow Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë’s relationship with each other and their brother Branwell, who in the last three years of his life was plagued by alcoholism and drug addiction.
To Walk Invisible: The Brontë
Sisters will be filmed in and around Yorkshire, where the most famous sisters of English literature lived. Casting is yet to be announced for the drama, described as “an original perspective on the Brontë sisters”.
BBC1 controller Charlotte Moore said: “The Brontë sisters have always been enigmatic but Sally Wainwright’s brilliantly au- thentic new BBC1 drama brings the women behind some of our greatest literary masterpieces to life.
“It’s an extraordinary tale of family tragedy and their passion and determination, against the odds, to have their genius rec- ognised in a male 19th century world.”
Bafta-winning writer Wainwright, whose other credits include TV series Happy Valley, said yesterday of the drama: “I am thrilled beyond measure that I’ve been asked by the BBC to bring to life these three fascinating, talented, ingenious Yorkshire women.”
The drama explores the siblings’ relationship with each other and their self-educated father, who grew up in an impoverished home in rural Ireland and encouraged his children – irrespective of their gender – to become passionate about literature.
It also portrays their “increasingly difficult relationship with their brother Branwell, who in the last three years of his life sank into alcoholism, drug addiction and appalling behaviour”.