Publisher's Synopsis
Helena Bonham Carter and Dominic West star in this BBC drama portraying the turbulent relationship between Hollywood's original A-list couple. It's 1982 and six years after their second divorce Richard Burton (West) and Elizabeth Taylor (Bonham Carter) hold a press conference to announce they are to appear together in a production of Noel Coward's 'Private Lives'. As the rehearsals begin in earnest, the couple's former antagonisms surface as Taylor's frequent lateness and general indifference to work begins to grate with Burton's more orthodox and professional approach to the stage. With the play opening to bad reviews, and his relationship with Taylor as stormy as ever, Burton feels the need to re-assess his position when he realises that the sell-out crowds believe that they are somehow witnessing art imitating life.
