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Elizabeth Is Missing

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Elizabeth Is Missing
Based onElizabeth Is Missing
by Emma Healey
Written byAndrea Gibb
Story byEmma Healey
Directed byAisling Walsh
Starring
Music byDominik Scherrer
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producerSarah Brown
ProducerChrissy Skinns
CinematographyLukas Strebel
EditorAlex Mackie
Running time87 minutes
Production companySTV Studios
Original release
NetworkBBC One
Release8 December 2019 (2019-12-08)

Elizabeth Is Missing is a 2019 British television drama film directed by Aisling Walsh, adapted by Andrea Gibb from the novel of the same name by Emma Healey. It was broadcast on 8 December 2019 on BBC One. It stars Glenda Jackson as Maud, an elderly woman living with dementia who struggles to piece together a double mystery.[1]

It premiered on PBS on 3 January 2021 as part of its Masterpiece anthology series.

Summary

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Maud, a grandmother in her 80s living with Alzheimer's disease, relies on sticky notes to get through the day as her memory slowly deteriorates. One day her best friend, another elderly woman named Elizabeth, fails to meet her as promised. Maud begins to believe something sinister has happened to Elizabeth, but her attempts to raise the alarm are dismissed by those around her. She is forced to investigate on her own as her memory flashes back to the mystery of another disappearance: that of her elder sister, Sukey, 70 years earlier.[2]

Ultimately, it is revealed that Elizabeth is not missing, she is in the hospital having become sick following gardening with Maud. Prompted by Maud, her daughter Helen digs in the garden of Elizabeth's home, which was meant to be the future home of Sukey and her husband 70 years prior, and uncovers the skeletal remains of Sukey. Sukey's body had been buried there by Frank, Sukey's husband, after he had killed her, when the neighbourhood was being constructed.

At Elizabeth's funeral, Maud asks Helen: "Did I tell you? Elizabeth is missing."

Cast

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Background

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Elizabeth Is Missing is based on the novel of the same name by Emma Healey, published in 2014. Glenda Jackson, who left acting in 1992 to begin a 23-year career as a Labour Party MP, returned to the stage in 2015. She stated that she was inspired after director Aisling Walsh approached her about the role in New York. "I read the script and the book, and they concern issues I have been banging on about for a decade. We are living in a society where no political party, at least in my country, has addressed the issue of how we provide the money to provide the care that an elderly population needs," Jackson told The New York Times. To prepare for the role, Jackson met with a doctor from Dementia UK, who she said "explained that the anger that many patients with dementia express was frustration."[3]

Production

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STV Studios were responsible for Elizabeth Is Missing, which was filmed in July and August 2019 in Scotland.[4][5] Paisley, Renfrewshire, stood in for an English town in flashbacks to the 1940s.[6]

Reception

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Elizabeth Is Missing was well received by critics, who praised the outstanding performance by Glenda Jackson, who returned to television after a 27-year absence.[7] It was given five stars by Lucy Mangan of The Guardian, who wrote that Jackson "is wonderful, in that vanishingly rare way that can come only from next-level talent as razor-sharp as it ever was plus 40 years of honing your technique, whetting both blades on 80 years of life experience."[1] Suzi Feay of the Financial Times also gave it five stars.[8]

Fiona Sturges of The Independent gave it four out of five stars, writing: "Rarely off the screen, Jackson is remarkable, playing Maud not as a benign and crinkly grandma but a proud woman unmoored and rendered increasingly impatient and volatile.... Dementia eats away not just at memory but identity, agency and empathy. The pain of these losses are sharply drawn here, both in Maud and her family who mourn the mother and grandmother they once knew."[2]

Carol Midgley of The Times also gave Elizabeth Is Missing four out of five stars, praising the format told from Maud's point of view: "[It] was cleverly told so that we didn't know where Elizabeth was, but experienced her 'disappearance' from Maud's perspective; confused and disjointed with little sense of elapsing time."[9]

The Daily Telegraph's Anita Singh, who gave the film five stars, said Jackson "gave one of the performances of her lifetime" and predicted her as a shoo-in for next year's British Academy Television Award for Best Actress: "If you are an actress hoping to win a BAFTA in February, and your name is not Glenda Jackson, I regret to inform you that this is not your year."[10]

Roslyn Sulcas, who interviewed Jackson for The New York Times, commented that the film was "rapturously received" in the United Kingdom, and commented on the rarity of a film not only focused on dementia but starring an elderly woman.[3]

On 31 July 2020, Jackson won the BAFTA TV award in the leading actress category.[11]

Accolades

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Award Date of the ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref
Broadcasting Press Guild Awards 13 March 2020 Best Actress Glenda Jackson Won [12]
Best Drama/Mini Series Elizabeth is Missing Nominated
Cameo Awards 20 March 2020 Book to TV Award Original book by Emma Healey (Penguin); Adapted by Andrea Gibb Won
Royal Television Society Scotland Awards 3 June 2020 Drama Elizabeth is Missing Nominated [13]
Writer Andrea Gibb Won
Banff World Media Rockie Awards 15 June 2020 Television Movie Elizabeth is Missing Won [14]
British Academy Television Awards July 31, 2020 Best Single Drama Andrea Gibb, Aisling Walsh, Sarah Brown, Chrissy Skinns Nominated [15]
Best Actress Glenda Jackson Won
Irish Film and Television Awards October 20, 2020 Best Director Drama Aisling Walsh Nominated
Edinburgh TV Awards 17 November 2020 Best Drama Elizabeth is Missing Nominated [16]
Best Actor Glenda Jackson Won
International Emmy Awards November 23, 2020 Best Actress Won [17]
C21 International Drama Awards 2 December 2020 Best TV Movie Elizabeth is Missing Won [18]
Best Individual Performance in a Drama Series Glenda Jackson Nominated
British Academy Scotland Awards December 8, 2020 Best Television Scripted Elizabeth is Missing Nominated [19]
Best Actress Glenda Jackson Won
Best Writer Andrea Gibb Nominated
Best Director (Fiction) Aisling Walsh Nominated
Royal Television Society Programme Awards 16 March 2021 Best Drama Elizabeth is Missing Won [20]
Best Actor (female) Glenda Jackson Nominated
Broadcast Awards 27 May 2021 Best Single Drama Elizabeth is Missing Won [21]
Celtic Media Festival Awards September, 2021 Best Single Drama (over 30 minutes) Nominated [22]

References

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  1. ^ a b Mangan, Lucy (8 December 2019). "Elizabeth Is Missing review – Glenda Jackson shines in this heartrending whodunnit". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  2. ^ a b Sturges, Fiona (8 December 2019). "Elizabeth is Missing is a powerful and unsentimental portrait of psychological decline – review". The Independent. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  3. ^ a b Sulcas, Roslyn (11 December 2019). "Glenda Jackson Returns to the Screen for an Issue Close to Her Heart". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  4. ^ Daniels, Nia (23 July 2019). "Elizabeth is Missing begins filming in Scotland". The Knowledge. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  5. ^ "BBC - Filming commences on BBC One's adaptation of Elizabeth Is Missing starring Glenda Jackson - Media Centre". BBC. 2 August 2019. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  6. ^ Rennie, Alison (20 August 2019). "Paisley goes back in time to the 1940s for new BBC film". Daily Record. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  7. ^ "TV: Glenda Jackson on screen for the first time in over 25 years". The Herald. 6 December 2019. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  8. ^ Feay, Suzi (6 December 2019). "Glenda Jackson is wonderfully cantankerous in Elizabeth is Missing". The Financial Times. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  9. ^ Midgley, Carol (9 December 2019). "Elizabeth is Missing review — no airbrushing of Alzheimer's in this tough tale". The Times. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  10. ^ Singh, Anita (8 December 2019). "Elizabeth Is Missing review - Glenda Jackson is on award-winning form in this unforgettable dementia drama". The Telegraph. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  11. ^ "BAFTA TV Awards 2020 winners LIVE - full list of winners as they're announced".
  12. ^ "Glenda Jackson, Moira Stuart, Michael Apted and George the Poet are among the winners at the 46th Broadcasting Press Guild Awards". Broadcasting Press Guild. 13 March 2020. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  13. ^ "RTS Scotland Awards 2020". Royal Television Society. 27 April 2020. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  14. ^ "Rockie Awards ★ 2020 Winners ★". rockies.playbackonline.ca. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  15. ^ "2020 Television Leading Actress | BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  16. ^ "Edinburgh TV Awards 2020". The Edinburgh International Television Festival. 18 November 2020. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  17. ^ "2020 INTERNATIONAL EMMY® WINNERS ANNOUNCED LIVE AT CEREMONY HELD FROM NEW YORK CITY – International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences". Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  18. ^ "Streamers dominate C21 Drama Awards". C21 Media. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  19. ^ "British Academy Scotland Awards: Winners in 2020". www.bafta.org. 12 October 2020. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  20. ^ "RTS Programme Awards 2021". Royal Television Society. 23 October 2020. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  21. ^ "Winners 2021". Broadcast Awards 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  22. ^ "Celtic Media Festival". Celtic Media Festival. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
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