We’ve had Lifetime’s Liz & Dick, now it’s time for the BBC’s Burton & Taylor with The Wire’s Dominic West and Oscar nominee Helena Bonham Carter playing the title roles. The 90-minute drama is set in 1983 when the couple were reunited in the Noël Coward’s play Private Lives. The couple had already been married and divorced twice by this point and this biopic will focus on their fractured relationship as it played out in both the private and public eye.
Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor are considered to be one of the most fraught and passionate romance stories of the twentieth century and while Liz & Dick is considered to be mess (see the Fug Girls “Fug the Fromage” for a rundown of how terrible it looks) the creative talent behind Burton & Taylor will hopefully produce a biopic worthy of their story.
In a recent interview with Vogue, Helena Bonham Carter explains that “It’s about two people who can’t live with each other and can’t live without each other. It’s very sad. And very touching.” Bonham Carter tells the magazine that she loves researching a character and luckily for her there is a wealth of information on this epic romance including passionate love letters.
Burton & Taylor airs on BBC 4 and BBC America later this year.
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