A Respectable Trade is a 1995 historical novel by Philippa Gregory set in the Bristol docks in 1787.

First edition (publ. HarperCollins)

Adaptation edit

Gregory adapted her work into a four-part TV serial which was broadcast by the BBC in 1998 and by the PBS in the United States in the fall of 1999. The series was partially filmed on site in Bristol, utilising the former house (and now museum) of plantation and slave owner John Pinney.[1]

Reception edit

A Respectable Trade was nominated in several BAFTA categories, including best serial, winning one BAFTA for Frances Tempest's historical costumes.[2]

Cast edit

  • Warren Clarke, Josiah Cole a trader in sugar, rum and eventually slaves
  • Emma Fielding, Frances Scott, his new aristocratic wife
  • Ariyon Bakare, Mehuru, an educated African slave
  • Grahame Fox, John Bates Slave driver

References edit

  1. ^ Elizabeth Kowaleski-Wallace - The British Slave Trade and Public Memory 2013 0231510314 Page 67 "Philippa Gregory's A Respectable Trade (1995), ... Gregory adapted her work into a drama broadcast by the BBC in 1998 and later by PBS in the United States in the fall of 1999.
  2. ^ Jerry Roberts Encyclopedia of Television Film Directors 0810863782 - 2009 -Page 314 "A Respectable Trade was nominated for best serial or special by the British Academy of Film and TV Arts, and won the BAFTA for Frances Tempest's costumes.."