Home / Series / Arena (1975) / Aired Order / Season 2018 / Episode 1

Stanley and His Daughters

Film exploring the relationship of artist Stanley Spencer's two daughters, Unity and Shirin, as they try to understand and reclaim their father and investigate their family's archaeology. The film examines what it is like to be the children of a genius in a family whose private life has been described as "the most bizarre domestic soap opera in the history of British art." At the heart of the film are Stanley's daughters - Unity, 87, and Shirin, who's 91. Their separation, post-Stanley's divorce from fellow artist Hilda, was traumatic. So, too, the fiasco of their father's second marriage to self-confessed lesbian Patricia Preece. This separation took root in the daughters' lives, and only in old age have they come together. The film follows this late-life rapprochement, as Unity boxes up her father's drawings and letters and leaves her London home of 40 years to be with Shirin in Wales.

English
  • Originally Aired February 4, 2018
  • Runtime 75 minutes
  • Network BBC Two
  • Created February 4, 2018 by
    Administrator admin
  • Modified June 13, 2023 by
    zoated