Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years poster

Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years (1981)

Biography · Drama · History

Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years is an 8-part 1981 drama serial based on the life of Winston Churchill, and particularly his years in enforced exile from political position during the 1920s and 30s. It was written and directed by Ferdinand Fairfax and Churchill was played by Robert Hardy. Hardy's brilliant performance as Churchill won critical acclaim and a BAFTA award in 1982. He reprised the role in The Sittaford Mystery, Bomber Harris and War and Remembrance and at the 50th anniversary celebrations of the end of World War II in 1995 when he quoted a number of Churchill's wartime speeches in character.

IMDb rating: 8.5 (379 votes)
Episode average: 8.5 matches the IMDb rating
Seasons: 1
Language: EN
Type: Mini-series

Rating trend: this show's seasons do not settle into one shape. Rising Shows ranks whole shows by the shape of their rating trend rather than one average score, which is how you find a show that got better rather than a show that started well.

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Ratings refreshed Oct 3, 2026 · 1 season indexed

Cast

Seasons

Season 1 (1981)

8.54 avg 8 episodes 7.9 → 9.0

Season 1 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Down and Out	7.9	22
2	Politics Are Foul	8.1	21
3	In High Places	8.6	19
4	A Menace in the House	8.5	19
5	The Flying Peril	8.7	19
6	His Own Funeral	8.1	19
7	The Long Tide of Surrender	9.4	20
8	What Price Churchill?	9.0	13