Revisitation Rites

The signs were unmistakable.

Those stricken with it went to toy stores and bought big, cuddly teddy bears, developed a taste for scones and tea, traded in their jeans for tailored white suits and V-neck tennis sweaters and began to read anything that was veddy, veddy British. And because VCRs were just in their infancy, everyone stayed home Monday evenings, glued to their television sets.

The ailment was Brideshead Revisited fever, and 11 years ago it struck Anglophiles across the United States in epidemic proportions. For 11 weeks, “Brideshead Revisited” enchanted viewers on PBS’ “Great Performances.”

And now the fever is back, thanks to cable’s Arts & Entertainment network. Beginning Sunday, A&E; will repeat “Brideshead,” which stars then up-and-comers Jeremy Irons and Anthony Andrews.

Filmed in Europe from 1979 to ‘81, the lavish miniseries is based on Evelyn Waugh’s classic novel of redemption. Waugh once described its theme as “the operation of divine grace on a group of diverse but closely connected characters.”

The story is seen through the eyes of Charles Ryder (Irons), a Protestant painter, who had become mesmerized by an aristocratic Catholic family, the Marchmains, and found his life intertwined with theirs over the decades. Ryder met the youngest Marchmain, the flamboyant, teddy bear lover Sebastian (Andrews), when the two attended Oxford in the 1920s.

The series opens in 1944 with Ryder, now a disillusioned army captain, trying to discover what went wrong with his life. He flashes back to 1922 and his first encounter with golden boy Sebastian.

“Brideshead” changed the careers of both Irons and Andrews, who received Emmy nominations. Though Irons is excellent as Ryder, Andrews steals the show as the troubled Sebastian, whose promising future is destroyed by alcohol. Andrews is particularly powerful in the fourth, fifth and sixth episodes. Andrews has gone on to make several features and TV movies and was recently nominated for a Golden Globe for his work in the NBC miniseries “Danielle Steel’s ‘Jewels.”

Irons has become a major film star and won the best actor Oscar two years ago for “Reversal of Fortune.” He currently stars in the controversial Louis Malle film “Damaged.”

“Brideshead” also boasted first-rate performances from a stellar supporting cast that included: Diana Quick, Laurence Olivier, Claire Bloom and John Gielgud.

Despite the critical raves and devoted audience following, “Brideshead” was practically shut out in the 1982 Emmys. The generally lambasted NBC mini, “Marco Polo,” won the top honors for limited series. Only Olivier’s eccentric turn as the head of the Marchmain family received the Emmy.

Preceding “Brideshead,” A&E; will air all 15 hours of the 1984 British miniseries, The Jewel in the Crown, based on Paul Scott’s four novels known as “The Raj Quartet.” Set in a India in 1947, “Jewel” stars Charles Dance, Geraldine James, Tim Piggot-Smith, Peggy Ashcroft and Art Malik and received the Emmy for outstanding limited series. “Jewel” originally aired on PBS’ “Masterpiece Theatre” series.

“Brideshead Revisited” begins Sunday at 8 p.m. and midnight on A&E; “The Jewel in the Crown” airs Sunday from 5 a.m.-8 p.m.; the final three episodes repeat beginning at 9 p.m. on A&E.;