The Impressionists (TV series)

The Impressionists
GenreDocudrama
Written bySarah Woods
Colin Swash
Directed byTim Dunn
StarringRichard Armitage
Charlie Condou
Aidan Gillett
Julian Glover
Andrew Havill
Will Keen
Michael Muller
No. of episodes3
Production
ProducerMary Downes
EditorAndrea Carnevali
Original release
NetworkBBC
Release30 April (2006-04-30) –
14 May 2006 (2006-05-14)

The Impressionists is a 2006 three-part factual docudrama produced by the BBC, which reconstructs the origins of the Impressionist art movement.[1] The script was "based on archive letters, records and interviews from the time",[2] and portrays painters Claude Monet, Édouard Manet, and Frédéric Bazille as young idealists taking on the Paris art establishment.[3]

The series features Julian Glover as Old Claude Monet, while Richard Armitage plays Young Claude Monet in flashbacks.[2] The first episode focused on Monet's memories of fellow artists Édouard Manet and Paul Cézanne.[4]

The programme was shot on location in Provence and Normandy, at Claude Monet's home and garden at Giverny and at locations in the UK.[5]

Reception

A review in The Independent on Sunday said that "The Impressionists felt about as authentically French as one of those Croissant Express stalls at Euston Station."[6] On the positive side, it called out Charlie Condou for giving "a super performance as a cheeky, daft-as-a-bruth Renoir" in the first episode, and "a few stunning Sunday in the Park with George moments moments when paintings bloom into life."[6]

The Scotsman gave The Impressionists a more favourable review, saying it "makes for suitably breezy viewing...Art history was never this interesting and it's the personal dramas that capture the imagination."[3] At the same time, it acknowledged that the show was "overdoing it with its sunny disposition" at times, pointing out that "being homeless and starving can't really have been as much fun as Monet, Renoir and co make it look".[3]

Reviews in The Sunday Telegraph and New Statesman were critical and ridiculed the dialogue, which included lines such as "This is Paris and it's 1862."[7][2]

References

  1. ^ Deans, Jason (6 December 2005). "Davina and drama drive BBC1 into 2006". The Guardian.
  2. ^ a b c Billen, Andrew (2006). "Take the Monet". New Statesman. Retrieved 9 October 2025 – via EBSCOhost.
  3. ^ a b c Pearson, Louisa (29 April 2006). "Television: Creating the right impression". The Scotsman. ProQuest 327201868. Retrieved 9 October 2025 – via ProQuest.
  4. ^ Holmwood, Leigh (2 May 2006). "First impression counts for BBC1". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 October 2025.
  5. ^ "The Impressionists - starts Sunday 30 April, 6.35pm, BBC ONE". BBC. 30 March 2006.
  6. ^ a b Eyre, Hermione (7 May 2006). "Life's a riot when facts meet fiction; TELEVISION Bradford Riots Channel 4 The Impressionists BBC1". The Independent on Sunday. ProQuest 336950950. Retrieved 9 October 2025 – via ProQuest.
  7. ^ Preston, John (7 May 2006). "TELEVISION". The Sunday Telegraph. ProQuest 309488308. Retrieved 9 October 2025 – via ProQuest.
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