What would your reaction be if you were accused and imprisoned for a murder you didn’t commit? How would you feel if you got sold to someone and your life took a turn for the worse due to you getting accused of murdering your owners?
Being a slave is hard enough, but being accused of murder is harder. Based on a Sara Collins novel of the same name, a British-period drama was produced by Drama Republic. The television adaptation failed to impress viewers with the way the book connected them.
The book was far too good to read than to watch as Frances made her journey from being a slave girl to being imprisoned in London for murder accusations. Directed by Andrea Harkin, The Confessions of Frannie Langton follows Frances on her journey after her parents sold her to Mr. and Mrs. Benham and her journey of getting imprisoned in London jail after being accused of murdering them.
The period-drama series has four episodes and was released by ITV on 8 December 2022. Written by Sara Collins, the series stars Karla-Simone Spence playing the role of Frannie, the series protagonist and a slave sold to Benham, and Sophie Cookson playing the role of Madame Marguerite Benham, Frannie’s owner.
Stephen Campbell Moore plays the role of George Benham, Marguerite’s husband, and Patrick Martins plays the role of Olaudah. Pooky Questnel plays the role of Linux, Amarah-Jae plays the role of Sal, Henry Pettigrew plays the role of William Pettigrew, Jodhi May plays the role of Hephzibah, and Steven Mackintosh plays the role of John Langton in the lead.
The supporting cast stars Lydia Page playing Pru, Mina Andala playing the role of Phibba, James Alexandrou playing the role of Constable Meek, Lou Broadbent playing the role of Miss Bella Langton, Lauren Conroy playing the role of Martha, T’Shan Williams playing the role of Calliope, and Martin Fisher playing the role of Sir Percy Benham.
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Frannie Langton’ Premise
The series’ focus is on Frannie, a young black woman sold by her parents to Benham’s, then getting accused of murdering her owners. The series starts with Frannie lying in bed with her owner, Madame Marguerite before men storm into their room and order Frannie to go downstairs.
Frannie questions the men’s decision to send her downstairs, and they reveal the death of her owners before accusing her of murdering them. Frannie is forcefully dragged to George’s body to make her realize the amount of damage she has done.
She gets slapped and ridiculed by the men outside before getting thrown into a cell with another woman. Frannie tells the guards to keep their hands to themselves before she falls asleep dreaming about Marguerite.
William arrives and explains to her about him being her brief as society has taken an interest in Frannie’s case. Frannie refuses to cooperate and questions Will about his intentions before requesting her to comply with him because a charge of double murder will lead to her getting hanged.
Frannie agrees to cooperate, and William buys her drugs but refuses to give them to Frannie before she agrees to talk about everything that happened on the day of the murder. Frannie claims to be unknown about the events of the day. Frannie informs William that she didn’t know about Marguerite being dead, and she slept in her bed because the two loved each other.
William continues to pressure Frannie into opening up before she tells him about Marguerite not wanting to host a party and Mr. Benham forcing her to host one. After Frannie’s revelation, William reveals that there were a lot of witnesses claiming she threatened the Benhams in front of the guests the previous night.
After several revelations are made in the first episode, the second one starts with Sal telling Frannie that she is worth saving, to which Frannie replies that she didn’t have any way to prove her innocence.
Frannie opens up about Marguerite hurting her and Sal telling her that the pair was always in an argument. The scene shifts to Linux informing Frannie to carry the buckets up as Marguerite instructed her. Linux is a troublemaker and tries to stir the pot with George by telling him about Frannie lurking around Marguerite’s room.
It gets revealed that Marguerite and Frannie were closeted gay and loved to spend time with each other. It also gets revealed that Frannie and Marguerite were both addicted to laudanum.
The reason behind Maeguerite’s death is revealed to be suicide which was covered by her family to make it appear like a murder. It is revealed that Franny did kill George Beckham, and she gets hanged for the murder of the Benhams after her trial.
The series ends with Frannie getting hanged, but not before revealing the truth about the men behind her misery.
Frannie Langton Filming Locations
Yorkshire
A historic country in Northern England, known for plantations of early days, Yorkshire was used for the filming of the British period drama titled The Confessions Of Frannie Langton. The entire series is filmed at different locations in Yorkshire, including Duncombe Park, Hull Old Town, Dewsbury Town Hall, and Temple Newman.
Versa Leeds Studios, Sledmere House, York Mansion House, and South Parade. The locations were filled with scenic beauty that the cast enjoyed. The first scene of The Confessions Of Frannie Langton was filmed in four different locations, but in the scene, it appears like the scene is filmed in a single house.
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