| Runtime: | 447 minutes (approx. 56 minutes per episode) |
| Based On: | The National Dream The Last Spike |
| Director: | James Murray Eric Till |
| Starring: | John Colicos Gillie Fenwick William Hutt Joseph Shaw Gerard Parkes Chris Wiggins |
| Narrated: | Pierre Berton |
| Theme Music Composer: | Louis Applebaum |
| Country: | Canada |
| Language: | English |
| Num Episodes: | 8 |
| Producer: | James Murray |
| Cinematography: | Harry Makin, CSC |
| Editor: | Don Haig Arla Saare |
| Budget: | $2,000,000 |
| Network: | CBC |
The National Dream, also known as The National Dream: Building the Impossible Railway, is a 1974 Canadian television docudrama miniseries based on Pierre Berton's 1970 book of the same name, plus Berton's 1971 follow-up book The Last Spike.[1] The television adaptation was written by William Whitehead and Timothy Findley. Berton is listed as a consultant on the credits.
The series portrayed the concept and construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway during the late 19th century, with Berton himself as narrator.[2] The National Dream combined dramatic reconstructions of the events (directed by Eric Till) with documentary content (directed by James Murray).[3] Production required two years and cost $2 million. Royal Trust, which was the executor of Cornelius Van Horne's estate, paid $400,000 to be a principal sponsor.
CBC Television premiered the eight-part hour-long series on 30 March 1974 and aired its final instalment on 28 April 1974. The series' rated audience of three million within Canada set a record for CBC in terms of dramatic programming. The series was also dubbed in French and broadcast on Radio-Canada,[4] and was later seen in modified form on BBC in the United Kingdom.
The series was never intended for international sales to cover any significant portion of its production costs.[4] Berton, however, was believed to have earned at least $250,000 from it, as well as from a re-release of the related books.[4]
There has never been a home video release, but it is available to educational institutions in DVD on special order from the CBC.[5]