Nana

My local PBS station showed this in the early 1970s twice during pledge weeks. I watched it both times it was shown. It was a fascinating story of vanity, class, opulence and excesses. The portrayal of the characters was memorable - even if the acting was a little camp. It felt more like a stage play than a production for TV - it reminded me of the early TV shows like Alcoa Presents and Westinghouse Theater. Too bad it aired before the age of VCRs. If only PBS would show it one more time so I could record it. Over the years I have written many letters and spent much time researching the Internet trying to get a copy of this series. It was too good to disappear. Someone must have a copy of it somewhere.

Does anyone know why this production was never put onto VHS or DVD? I contacted PBS BBC and no seemed to know about what happened to this series.

I can't remember if it was a Masterpiece Theatre presentation, but it did inspire me to read a good chunk of Zola's work. The black and white movie doesn't come close to this excellent production. I'm hoping someone can explain why it was never shown on TV after the 1970's and why it was never issued for home viewing. It would be a sad to find out that it's sitting in some vault waiting for some copyright issue to be settled.

I saw this when it was first shown (1968 I think) and I remember it vividly for it's portrayal of Paris social life in the Second Empire and its very daring eroticism for the time.

Katherine Schofield, as Nana, appeared topless and, in one scene, she chastised Freddy Jones, as Muffat, with a riding crop, (I think). I'll never forget her singing 'Blonde Venus'....very sad that she died of cancer last year.

It really brought home to me the decadence of Napoleon III's hey-day and its final elimination as the Franco-Prussian War began at the end of the last episode.

A shining example of BBC TV's excellence at dramatisation.

This production of Emile Zola's Nana was one of my wife's favorite TV dramatic performances. I recall the shocking finale depicting Nana's fate. I thought it was shown on PBS's Masterpiece Theatre about 1975 because I remember some introductory comments about Zola's work and the reaction to it at the time of its publication, but there is no reference to it in the list of Masterpiece Theatre's presentations on the PBS website. IMDb lists its production date as 1968 so there's a significant gap between its creation and its American showing. This would seem to imply that there must have been some medium that the production was recorded on. Perhaps the BBC could be contacted about it?

According to Lostshows.com, a number of the episodes are missing. This website tracks British programs that are not complete and tries to find sources to recreate the programs in their entirety. Here is what they have to say:

"Missing or incomplete episodes for program NANA.

+ 14.09.68 The Victim (missing)

+ 21.09.68 The Queen (see below)

A copy exists which has been converted from the US NTSC system. The original 2" videotape master has been lost.

+ 28.09.68 Fall Of An Empire (see below)

A copy exists which has been converted from the US NTSC system. The original 2" videotape master has been lost.

3 episodes are missing or incomplete out of a total of 5."

It's a shame that no seems to know what happened to the missing episodes. It was an excellent production and would be nice to see it again.