The National Dream | |
---|---|
Based on | The National Dream The Last Spike |
Written by |
William Whitehead Timothy Findley |
Directed by | James Murray Eric Till |
Starring |
John Colicos Gillie Fenwick William Hutt Joseph Shaw Gerard Parkes Chris Wiggins |
Narrated by | Pierre Berton |
Theme music composer | Louis Applebaum |
Country of origin | Canada |
Original language | English |
No. of episodes | 8 |
Production | |
Producer | James Murray |
Cinematography | Harry Makin, CSC |
Editors |
Don Haig Arla Saare |
Running time | 447 minutes (approx. 56 minutes per episode) |
Budget | $2,000,000 |
Original release | |
Network | CBC |
Release | 3 March 28 April 1974 | –
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.
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.
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]