TBT: Arthur & George (2015)

Arthur & George (2015) is a three-part miniseries that takes a somewhat fictionalized view of the real-life miscarriage of justice case of George Edalji, a half-Indian, half-English solicitor who was wrongfully convicted of a series of animal mutilations known as the Great Wyrley Outrages and served three years hard labor before Sir Arthur Conan Doyle became involved in his case, working to exonerate him.

It stars Martin Clunes as Arthur Conan Doyle and Arsher Ali as George Edalji. Charles Edwards plays Alfred “Woodie” Woods, one of Doyle’s closest friends and secretary and the pair more or less mimic the dynamic between Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson. The film is set for the most part circa 1906-1907, and the costumes were designed by Les Lansdown, who is probably best recognized by his work on Tess of the D’Urbevilles (1998) and Wide Sargasso Sea (2006).

Woodie (Charles Edwards) and Sir Arthur (Martin Clunes) pretty much wear these suits the entire series.

George (Arsher Ali) doesn’t get much in the way of a wardrobe, either, which is understandable given he was in prison for three years.

The old judge does get one interesting outfit, which is basically a white tie and waistcoat under a paisley smoking jacket.

Unsurprisingly, the women’s costumes are where it’s at in terms of visual interest. Jean Leckie (Hattie Morahan), Sir Arthur’s eventual second wife is on the far left in blue, and she pretty much gets the best dresses of all the female characters.

A photograph of the real Jean Leckie in 1907, right around the time she married Doyle.

My particular favorite was this buttery yellow silk taffeta frock.

It’s really a beautifully constructed garment, with the creamy lace jabot as a nice textural element against the yellow silk.

At the end of the series, Jean gets another yellow gown, this time a Fortuny replica. Not sure about the long sleeves… I can’t recall any of extant Fortuny gowns having long pleated sleeves like this, but the rest of the details are spot on.

The vast majority of extant Fortuny gowns are either sleeveless or have elbow-length batwing sleeves that vary in how tightly fitted they are to the arm. A later style of Delphos gown had long sleeves, but they were fitted snug to the wrist and didn’t billow out much. Source: The Charleston Museum via Flickr.

While there wasn’t a ton of costume eye candy in this miniseries, I thought the costumes were all very well done. Plus the plot is actually pretty engaging, so it’s definitely worth a watch!

Have you seen Arthur & George (2015)? Tell us your thoughts in the comments!

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4 thoughts on “TBT: Arthur & George (2015)”

I have not seen Aurther & George, but it looks very interesting. That yellow dress is divine! I shall give it a go…

I did recognize Hattie Morahan, and wondered if a WCW on her might be in our future?

The puffed shoulders on a couple of Jean’s dresses seem to me much more in line with 1901 styles than styles from the latter half of that decade… any thoughts from those with more expertise?

Good grief but Mr Clunes looks the very image of Doctor Watson – I wonder who would have made to best possible Sherlock Holmes to star opposite him? (I’ve wanted to see Mr Stephen Dillane play Holmes since seeing him in THE SECRET OF CHIMNEYS, but I’m not sure how they would work together).