| Genre: | Drama |
| Director: | Jon Jones |
| Producer: | Gina Cronk |
| Executive Producer: | Lucy Bedford Douglas Rae |
| Starring: | Andrew Buchan Rose Leslie Jack Huston Daniel Mays Perdita Weeks Oliver Jackson-Cohen Charles Dance Nicholas Blane Andrew Tiernan |
| Language: | English |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Composer: | Dan Jones Elizabeth Purnell |
| Num Series: | 1 |
| Num Episodes: | 4 |
| Company: | Ecosse Films |
| Channel: | ITV |
| Runtime: | 50 minutes (inc adverts) |
The Great Fire is a four-part television drama first shown on ITV from 16 October to 6 November 2014. It is set during the Great Fire of London in England in 1666. It was written by Tom Bradby and produced by Ecosse Films. Each hour-long (including commercial breaks) episode is set in one day of the fire.
The series portrays events from the point of view of the Farriner family, in whose bakery on Pudding Lane the fire started, and from the point of view of the royal court in responding to the fire.
The storyline includes events that are not recorded from the real fire. The fire was shown as starting when Farriner's daughter left the oven's stoke-hatch open and the fire ejected a hot ember which ignited loose straw on the wooden floor. It suggests Farriner had a contract to supply baked goods to the Royal Navy and was suffering financial difficulties as a result of the Navy persistently delaying payment. It also follows a sub-plot in which there is a suspected Catholic plot to kill King Charles II, in which the Farriners become suspected of complicity.
Cobham Hall was used to film some of the London street scenes and Penshurst Place in Kent doubled as the exterior of the King's palace.[1]
The Guardian was moderately positive, describing it as, 'decent enough drama, if not quite as great as its title would like it to be, and it is lifted by a fine cast, particularly Charles Dance as the sinister intelligence officer Lord Denton.'[2] The Independent also praised the cast, but said the series lacked suspense.[3] The Telegraph gave it two stars.[4]