Over five 30 minute episodes, produced in 2010 for Sky Arts, internationally renowned G&S performer and authority, Simon Butteriss explores the topsy turvy world created by W.S Gilbert and so memorably set to music by Arthur Sullivan, through narration, specially filmed dramatic excerpts and conversations with devotees of G&S.
Contributors to the series include Michael Ball, Germaine Greer, Sir Nicholas Hytner, Dame Felicity Lott, Sir Charles Mackerras, Valerie Masterson and Sir Jonathan Miller. It contains archive extracts from performances at the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival in Buxton as well as over sixty staged extracts performed by well loved G&S stars: Victoria Byron, Bruce Graham, Gareth Jones, Charlotte Page, Jill Pert, Oliver White and, of course, Simon Butteriss himself. They are joined by a specially selected chorus and studio orchestra, conducted by Tony Britten, who also produced and directed the series – a Capriol Films production for Sky Arts 2 HD.
BONUS DVD: The DVD set includes a special bonus disc, “A Salaried Wit – Grossmith, Gilbert and Sullivan”, Simon Butteriss’s highly entertaining exploration of the life and work of George Grossmith, the original G&S patterman.
Format: NTSC All regions 16:9 DVD9 & DVD5
