synopsis

the queen’s sister is a semi-fictional television drama based on the life and times of the princess margaret, younger sister to queen Elizabeth ii. the drama portrays margaret’s life from the coronation in 1952 until her early demise in the mid 1970’s.

production

the drama was produced for channel 4 by the production company touchpaper pictures, and is currently available on dvd.

awards

In 2006, the queen’s sister was nominated for a number of awards at the british academy television awards: best single drama, simon cellan jones for best director, lucy cohu for best actress and best costume design. David threlfall  (prince phillip) was nominated for the best actor award  by the royal television society and Lucy cohu went on to be nominated for the best actress award at the international academy of television arts and sciences.

art direction

michael pickwoad designed the television film with chris richmond and alan cassie as art directors. with such a senstive subject matter, and one in such public view, keen attention was applied to the art direction, both in the historical and factual detail , in the set design, the set construction, and the general set dressing and props. The fact that the drama spanned a 30 year period, certainly kept the art department on their toes. there were a number of challenging scenarios and environments for the art department to replicate authentically under the keen eyes of the general public: the coronation, buckingham palace interiors and exteriors and not least of all, mustique (which we shot in surrey and the south of france). there were a number of set builds that were constructed during the shoot, including the interior of princess margaret’s 1st marital appartment, and three interior sets – depicting the 50′s, 60′s and 70′s.