The Flame Trees of Thika by Elspeth Huxley

Many years had passed between the first and last times I saw 'THE FLAME TREES OF THIKA'.

colonial East Africa for middle-class Britons.

I feel that Stannard and Quigley, along with production managers Clifton Brandon and Johnny Goodman did a very good job in recapturing the look and feel of colonial pre-World War I East Africa.

But Quigley remained mindful of her characters' social standing, age and personalities. They looked attractive when the scene or moment called for borderline glamour. I can also say the same about Maggie Quigley's costume designs. Roy Stannard's art direction greatly contributed to the miniseries' look. The production's color seemed to have somewhat faded over the past twenty to thirty years. My only qualm is that Wilson may have used slightly inferior film stock. Yes, the miniseries was filmed on location. He did a marvelous job in recapturing the space and scope of Kenya. It is a beautiful series to look at, thanks to Ian Wilson's cinematography. Overall, 'THE FLAME TREES OF THIKA' struck me as a pretty decent production. However, just as the Grants were learning to adjust to life in British East Africa, World War I begins and they are forced to adjust to a new future all over again. Nimmo, a young and inexperienced farmer named Alec Wilson and a very dashing big game hunter named Ian Crawford. As life begins to improve for the Grants, they acquire new neighbors, who include a recently arrived couple named Hereward and Lettice Palmer, a Scottish-born former nurse named Mrs. Two of those workers are another local of Masai/Kikuyu descent named Sammy, who serves as the Grants' headman and a Swahili cook named Juma. With the help of a Boer big game hunter named Piet Roos, they hire a Kikuyu local named Njombo to serve as translator for any new workers. The Grants encounter many problems in setting up their new home. The latter, who is a British Army veteran, has plans to establish a coffee plantation. The story begins in 1913 when young Elspeth Grant and her mother Tilly arrive in British East Africa (now known as Kenya) to meet her father, Robin. that last year before the outbreak of World War I. 'THE FLAME TREES OF THIKA' is really a biopic - an adaptation of author Elspeth Huxley's 1959 memoirs of her childhood in Kenya during the last year of the Edwardian Age. One of the productions that I never forgot happened to be one that is rarely, if ever, discussed by period drama fans today - namely the 1981 miniseries, 'THE FLAME TREES OF THIKA'. Even as a child, I was hooked on period dramas set in Great Britain's past. Some might find this hard to believe, but I used to be an avid viewer of PBS's 'MASTERPIECE THEATER' years ago.

The Flame Trees of Thika by Elspeth Huxley