The powerful tale of obsessive love and thwarted passion in storm-tossed Cornwall
Original title
Penmarric
Released
10/12/1979
Origin country
GB
Genre
Drama, Family
Status
Ended
Number of seasons
1
Number of episodes
12
Powerful and compelling, Penmarric is a sweeping, historic tale of unsuppressed passion and rampant ambition, desire and destruction, spanning three generations from Victorian England to the Second World War. Set on the stormy coasts of Cornwall, Mark Castallack is the Master of Penmarric, a lost soul who finds love in the arms of Janna, an older woman and daughter of a local fisherman. The impact of their marriage on the family and community – and the dark secrets that surround it - sets off a chain of events that threatens all who cross the threshold of the grand house. The course is set towards a tragedy that will echo across time pitting husband against wife, father against son and brother against brother.
First episode of the adaptation from the novel by Susan Howatch. Penmarric is the compelling story of the passionate loves and hatreds of a Cornish family.
1890: Mark, now aged 20, has learnt he is heir to Penmarric. Weary of Maud's obsession with the Inheritence, he quarrels with her.
1890: Janna has firmly rejected Mark's attentions. He finds his subsequent involvements with Rose Parrish brings its own problems.
1890: Janna and Mark have fallen in love. Janna tells Mark about her early life and about her love affair with his father.
1890: Janna and Mark have married and Mark has finally inherited Penmarric. They have moved, but Janna's frequent pregnancies have caused a rift between them.
1903: Although Mark has promised he will not see Rose Parrish again, he has left Penmarric to continue his studies, leaving Janna with the children.
1912: Janna has refused Mark a divorce. In turn, Mark has been granted custody of their children, who have gone to Oxford to live with him and the Parrish family.
1915: Mark has returned to Penmarric with the Parrish children. Philip tries to blackmail Mark.
1926: The demand for tin falls and the mine suffers critical setbacks. Mark decides to close Sennen Garth.
1927: Mark has died, making Philip the unexpected heir to Penmarric. He and Helena have married.
1932: Philip's relationship with Helena remains troubled. To Jan-Yves anger he has made Jonas, Rebecca's child, heir to Penmarric.
1937: Helena and Philip are subsequently reconciled. Rebecca has accused Philip of assaulting Jonas. As a result, Philip alters his will and Jan-Yves is heir to Penmarric.
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