The lavish six-part period drama series Hotel Portofino set on the magical Italian Riviera, will begin in February
An intriguing family drama set in the roaring 1920s, Natascha McElhone (Californication) stars as Bella Ainsworth, the daughter of a wealthy industrialist who has moved to Italy to set up a quintessentially British hotel in the breathtakingly beautiful town of Portofino.
Hotel Portofino captures the long-established literary tradition of comic and idiosyncratic British ‘innocents abroad’, but also reveals more serious storylines, set against the historical backdrop of the rise of Fascism in Mussolini’s Italy. Embracing themes of sexual and social liberation, the series delivers a rich cocktail of subplots in a breathtaking Italian setting.
Mark Umbers (Home Fires) plays Bella Ainsworth’s charming but dangerous aristocratic husband, Cecil, and Anna Chancellor (Four Weddings and a Funeral) plays the hotel’s most influential but hard-to-please guest, Lady Latchmere.
The series also features rising star, Australia’s own Claude Scott-Mitchell (The Dry) in the role of Rose Drummond-Ward, a newly arrived guest at the hotel.
Additional cast members include Daniele Pecci (Orgoglio) as the charismatic Count Carlo Albani, Lorenzo Richelmy (Marco Polo) as Carlo’s son, Roberto Albani, and Rocco Fasano (Skam Italia) as anti-fascist activist Gianluca Vitali.
Hotel Portofino is created and written by Matt Baker (Before We Die), directed by Adam Wimpenny (Blackwood),
The series was filmed on location in Portofino, Italy and along the Croatian coastline.
Hotel Portofino premieres on Tuesday, February 8 at 8.30pm AEDT available to watch On Demand on FOXTEL and on Fox Showcase
