New 1920s period drama ‘Hotel Portofino’ launches on BritBox

BritBox’s glamorous new series Hotel Portofino premieres in the UK today.

Set during the ‘Roaring 20s’, the six-part period drama follows a British family who open a hotel for upper class travellers on the magical Italian Riviera.

Leading the cast are Natascha McElhone (Ladies in Lavender), Anna Chancellor (Downton Abbey), Adam James (Vigil), Mark Umbers (Home Fires), Imogen King (The Bay), Lorenzo Richelmy (Marco Polo), Lily Frazer (Cuckoo), Oliver Dench (Domina), and Elizabeth Carling (Goodnight Sweetheart).

Created and written by Matt Baker (Before We Die), the series comes from Professor T executive producers Jo McGrath and Walter Iuzzolino.

Watch the trailer:

 

The official synopsis reads: “The Hotel has only been open a few weeks, but the guests including the imperious Lady Latchmere (Anna Chancellor), are demanding and hard-to-please.

“Bella Ainsworth (Natasha McElhone) the co-proprietor and moving spirit behind the hotel, quickly finds herself being targeted by a scheming and corrupt local politician, Signor Danioni (Pasquale Esposito), who threatens to drag her into the red-hot political cauldron of Mussolini’s Italy.

“The Hotel demands all of Bella’s resources, energy, and focus, but she’s being pulled in other directions, as she tries to coax her wounded son, Lucian, and her widowed daughter, Alice, towards health and happiness in the traumatic aftermath of World War 1.

“And then there’s Bella’s aristocratic but caddish husband, Cecil (Mark Umbers), who’s obsessed with arranging an advantageous marriage for Lucian to secure the future of the Ainsworth family’s estate back in England, and with finding the money to pay for his dilettante lifestyle.”

Watch a preview:

 

Hotel Portofino will be available to watch exclusively on BritBox in the UK from Thursday 27th January.

The series will then air on ITV next year.

Australian viewers can see the show on Foxtel from Tuesday 8th February.

A broadcaster in the US hasn’t yet been confirmed, but we’ll let you know as soon as we hear anything.