The Kennedy’s After Camelot will be shown in 2 parts on consecutive nights on RTÉ One. The first 2-hour episode will be on Friday 9 June at 9.35pm. The concluding part will air on Saturday 10 June.
Overview:
The world-renowned Kennedy family struggles to come to terms with “the end of Camelot.”
A ground-breaking mini-series, The Kennedys: After Camelot is an engrossing look at those who carried the Kennedy name – and the expectations of history – following the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy.
Katie Holmes stars as Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. Still reeling from the death of her husband, John F. (“Jack”) Kennedy, the nation’s 35th president and all but crushed by the assassination of her beloved brother-in-law Robert F. (“Bobby”) Kennedy, her marriage to Greek billionaire Aristotle Onassis provides safety and security for her and her children. It also outrages the American people. But hers is the story of survival, and she returns to the Kennedys to become the rock of the family. She also uses her own talents to further herself in a career in ways she might never have if Jack had lived – before her untimely death at the age of 64. Her struggles with her son John F. Kennedy, Jr. lead to a shocking revelation about the very notion of Camelot which defined the age.
Matthew Perry portrays Senator Edward M. “Ted” Kennedy. Challenged to pick up the mantle of his fallen brothers, he spirals downward into the abyss of alcoholism and infidelity. Our shattering portrayal of the events at Chappaquiddick in which a young woman died when Ted drove his car off a bridge – never before dramatized on television – ends his chances of becoming President and haunts him forever. But his relationship with Jackie, stormy and emotionally-charged, becomes the salvation of his life and, in many ways, the validation of hers.
They were America’s royals, blessed with great gifts and burdened with great flaws. The Kennedys: After Camelot peels back the veneer of power, fame and wealth, and shows them as they really were: all-too-human after all.
Teleplay by Stephen Kronish (writer of the Emmy-winning “The Kennedys”) and Sandra Chwialkowska (“Lost Girl”) based on the New York Times bestselling book “AFTER CAMELOT: A PERSONAL HISTORY OF THE KENNEDY FAMILY” by J. Randy Taraborrelli.
Information for episodes 1 and 2 which will air on Friday 9 June:
Ep1 – Following the assassination of Bobby Kennedy, Jackie defies public opinion and marries Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis. Ted Kennedy is pressured to replace his fallen brother and continue the legacy of “Camelot” by running for the White House himself.
Five years after the murder of President Kennedy, his widow Jacqueline is still plagued by PTSD memories of the event. On June 4, 1968, Robert Kennedy wins the California primary that virtually assures he will be the Democratic Party’s nominee for President, following in JFK’s footsteps and continuing the legacy of “Camelot”. He’s shot by a lone gunman in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, and Jackie flies from her home in New York to be with the family.
A flashback to the original series The Kennedys shows how close Jackie and Bobby were. There’s even the hint that they may have had an affair. Bobby’s wife Ethel, devoutly religious, refuses to allow doctors – or her brother-in-law Ted – to shut down the life support system that keeps Bobby breathing. That terrible duty falls upon Jackie.
Haunted by the deaths of her husband and brother-in-law, Jackie contemplates suicide. She’s counselled by her close friend Father Richard McSorley, a Jesuit priest who will also become a mentor to Jackie’s son John F. Kennedy, Jr.
Greek millionaire Aristotle Onassis, who’s been dating Jackie for several years in spite of Bobby’s objections, presses her to marry him. And Jackie wants what he’s in a unique position to give: complete safety for her children on his private island in the Aegean.
Ted Kennedy, too, is haunted by the ghosts of his brothers. He’s told he must step into Bobby’s shoes. Ted’s wife Joan, battling alcohol and rumours of Ted’s philandering, begs him not to run. So does family matriarch Rose, as well as Bobby’s widow Ethel. Ted has become the surrogate father to Jack’s two children and Bobby’s ten – as well as his own kids. He decides he can’t run in Bobby’s place – at least not now.
After getting the approval of Rose – and all the Kennedys except Ethel – Jackie decides to marry Onassis. At her request, Ted negotiates the terms of her dowry from the shipping tycoon. The wedding takes place on Onassis’s island of Skorpios. Jackie Kennedy becomes Jackie Onassis – though she’s well aware of the looming presence of her husband’s long-time mistress, opera star Maria Callas.
And Ted, whose life is spiralling downward in a toxic combination of grief and alcohol, attends a party in the Cape Cod town of Chappaquiddick. He leaves the gathering with a young woman who is not his wife. Disoriented in the darkness, he drives his car off a bridge, and as the car submerges in the murky water we end Episode 1.
Ep 2 – the Kennedy family is shaken to its core when Ted’s car accident at Chappaquiddick results in the death of his female companion. Jackie returns from Greece – over the objections of Onassis – to help the Kennedys, only to find herself drawn into their attempt to save Ted’s career by evading justice.
With Mary Jo Kopechne still trapped in his submerged car, Ted manages to escape. In shock, he returns to the cabin where the party took place. He and two friends race back to the scene of the accident. His friends try to save Mary Jo, but cannot. They urge him to report the event to the police. He agrees, but then waits almost ten hours. By then Mary Jo has been found dead, still inside Ted’s vehicle.
Ted’s first call for help isn’t to his wife Joan, but to Jackie. Without telling her why, he implores her to return to Massachusetts from her home on Skorpios. Onassis orders her to remain with him on Skorpios. But Jackie doesn’t take orders from him or anyone else, and she still feels a responsibility to her former family.
The situation becomes worse for Ted when it’s discovered that Mary Jo did not drown inside the car. An air pocket allowed her to breathe for as long as two hours. When the oxygen was depleted, she suffocated. But if Ted had reported the event in time, she might have been saved. With the possibility of a prison term looming before him, the family assembles former members of JFK’s Administration to help “spin” the story.
Massachusetts law requires an autopsy in the case of an unattended death. But the Kennedy handlers realize that the autopsy would reveal the truth about – and Ted’s culpability in – Mary Jo’s death.
Jackie arrives from Greece, incensed that Ted didn’t tell her why he needed her. Her thoughts turn to Joan, who’s clearly suffering the effects of alcohol abuse. Ted coerces Joan to call Mary Jo’s parents in order to get them on the Kennedys’ side.
Ted thinks about resigning from public life. His mother Rose forbids it, saying that he must carry on the legacy of his brothers. But it’s all too much for Jackie, who leaves the Kennedy Compound after telling Joan she’ll never return, and that she “can’t be a Kennedy anymore.”
The crisis over the autopsy – and the salvation of Ted’s career – seem to have been accomplished. But then the Kennedys realize their call to Mary Jo’s parents has backfired. Angered by the lack of information about their daughter’s death, they’ve decided to insist upon an autopsy – and on that cliff hanger we end Episode 2.