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A Gift to Last

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A Gift to Last
Created byPeter Wildeblood
StarringGordon Pinsent
Country of originCanada
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes23 (including christmas special)
Production
Running time60 minutes
Original release
NetworkCBC
ReleaseDecember 19, 1976 –
December 16, 1979

A Gift to Last is a CBC Television Christmas special broadcast in 1976, a subsequent family drama series that ran from 1978–1979, and a stage play based on the pilot episode.

In both the special and series, Gordon Pinsent portrayed North-West Mounted Police officer Sgt Edgar Sturgess.

Christmas Special

Melvyn Douglas was cast as the senior Clement Sturgess, a nephew of Sgt Edgar Sturgess. The special dramatises Clement's Christmas memories of his life around the year 1900. Mark Polley, the brother of Sarah Polley, was cast in the role of the young Clement.

Series

The series was set during 1899-1905, around the time of the Second Boer War.

Stage Play

The pilot Christmas episode of A Gift to Last was adapted for the stage by Walter Learning and Alden Nowlan in 1978. The play has since become a perennial Canadian Christmas favourite and is regularly presented at regional theatres across the country. In 2012, Theatre Orangeville presented A Gift to Last with playwright Walter Learning in the role of Older Clement.