Belgravia: The Next Chapter

Episode 1

Episode #1.1

Sun, Jan 14, 2024

Frederick Trenchard (Benjamin Wainwright), whose putative father was granted a peerage of a yet undisclosed rank, has been raised as the grandson and heir of a British tradesman, James Trenchard. Frederick is unaware he is the illegitimate son born from a disastrous affair between Oliver Trenchard's wife Susan (Alice Eve) and John Bellasis (Adam James), the nephew of Peregrine Bellasis, Earl of Brockenhurst, a secret known only to Oliver and Susan and the reason behind Oliver's resentment towards Frederick. In Victorian 1871, at the affluent district of London known as Belgravia, a lavish home party allows wealthy Frederick to meet impoverished Clara Dunn (Harriet Slater), whom he courts and marries. Frederick remembers his ill-treated parenting by resentful Oliver Trenchard (Richard Goulding). After a honeymoon, the newlyweds return home to the Trenchard home in Eaton Square and Frederick hires Miss Davison (Elaine Cassidy) as Clara's personal maid. Clara learns of the other Trenchard family estate of Glanville. Clara witnesses a small boy run out of and be returned to the Duchess of Rochester's (Sophie Winkleman) home; the boy is the Duke's (Miles Jupp) heir and leads a sheltered life with epilepsy, while being treated by Dr. Stephen Ellerby (Edward Bluemel). At his business, Frederick sets up a stipend for the Dunn household. Clara's sister Emily (Hannah Onslow) attends her new church, unaware the vicar, Rev. James Trenchard (Toby Regbo), is the brother of her sister's new husband, until the two are brought together aiding a distraught woman who unsuccessfully tries to commit suicide outside Rev. Trenchard's church. At a party, Frederick discusses business opportunities with the Trenchards' new neighbor, wealthy businesswoman and widow Marquise D'Étagnac (Claude Perron), a refugee from a new revolutionary France. In a solitary moment, Miss Davison encounters Mr. Fletcher, with whom she shares a history, and informs him that she will not reveal his original name or past. Frederick worries after the party that the other aristocrats continue to see him as a tradesman and not one of their own class. An argument about trust upsets and disillusions Clara, who flees but winds up unconscious when she falls down the stairs. At the request of Frederick to the Duchess of Rochester, Dr. Ellerby attends to the convalescent Clara.