The National Dream, also known as The National Dream: Building the Impossible Railway, is a 1974 Canadian television docudrama miniseries based on Pierre Berton's 1970 book of the same name, plus Berton's 1971 follow-up book The Last Spike.[1] The television adaptation was written by William Whitehead and Timothy Findley. Berton is listed as a consultant on the credits.

Production

The series portrayed the concept and construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway during the late 19th century, with Berton himself as narrator.[2] The National Dream combined dramatic reconstructions of the events (directed by Eric Till) with documentary content (directed by James Murray).[2][3] Production required two years and cost $2 million. Royal Trust, which was the executor of Cornelius Van Horne's estate, paid $400,000 to be a principal sponsor.[4]

CBC Television premiered the eight-part hour-long series on 30 March 1974[1] and aired its final instalment on 28 April 1974. The series' rated audience of three million within Canada set a record for CBC in terms of dramatic programming. The series was also dubbed in French and broadcast on Radio-Canada,[4] and was later seen in modified form on BBC in the United Kingdom.

Principal cast

List of episodes

  • The Great Lone Land
  • The Pacific Scandal
  • The Horrid B.C. Business
  • The Great Debate
  • The Railway General
  • The Sea of Mountains
  • The Desperate Days
  • The Last Spike

After initial release

The series was never intended for international sales to cover any significant portion of its production costs.[4] Berton, however, was believed to have earned at least $250,000 from it, as well as from a re-release of the related books.[4]

There has never been a home video release, but it is available to educational institutions in DVD on special order from the CBC.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b "National Dream slated". Windsor Star. 22 February 1974. p. 17. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  2. ^ a b "Rail-building Series Back". Leader-Post. 26 December 1975. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  3. ^ "A Historical Series On TV to Camouflage American Domination". The Forge. 20 May 1976. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  4. ^ a b c d MacDonald, L. Ian (7 February 1974). "Too late for Van Horne's Dream". Montreal Gazette. p. 27.
  5. ^ "The National Dream". curio.ca. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_National_Dream_(miniseries)
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