The King's Speech: The making of an Oscar winner

Descriptor: First we see clips from 'The King's Speech', before we see a white caption which reads, "A War With Words. The making of The King's Speech", with the UK Film Council Lottery Funded logo. We then see Colin Firth, who plays Prince Albert in the film. As he speaks, we see clips from the film.

Colin Firth: We've tended to refer to this as the B-plot in history, if Wallace and Mrs Simpson is the A-plot, the one we all know about, ah, the romance, or the scandal, however want, you want to look at it. What is not addressed very often is what was happening in the wings, which was the poor chap who had to take it all on as a result.

Descriptor: We now see a clip from the film with Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush.

Helena Bonham Carter: My husband is, um, well he's required to speak publicly.

Geoffrey Rush: Perhaps he should change jobs.

Helena Bonham Carter: He can't.

Geoffrey Rush: Indentured servitude?

Helena Bonham Carter: Something of that nature, yes.

Descriptor: We now see Tom Hooper, who is the film's director. As he speaks, we see clips from the film.

Tom Hooper: Bertie suffered from this, you know, terrible stammer. He obviously hoped, as the younger brother, he was never going to have to be king and therefore, he could probably get away with this affliction. But then because of the abdication crisis, he has to take on that role, at the moment in history when radio has come in as a mass media.

Descriptor: We now see Geoffrey Rush, who plays Lionel Logue in the film. As he speaks, we see clips from the film.

Geoffrey Rush: Poor old Bertie, who'd never in a million years dreamed that he would be flying into the public spotlight, goes through a pretty dark night of the soul about fronting up to that kind of public responsibility.

Descriptor: We now see Helena Bonham Carter, who plays Queen Elizabeth/The Queen Mother in the film. As she speaks, we see clips of the film.

Helena Bonham Carter: He was not equipped in his personality, ah, or, um, or suited being king in any way, and he knew it. It was more than just a stammer, he was terribly shy, he was under-confident, physically he wasn't that strong.

Descriptor: We now see a clip from the film with Guy Pearce and Colin Firth.

Guy Pearce: Yearning for a larger audience are we, b-b-b-b-Bertie?

Descriptor: We now see Guy Pearce, who plays Prince Edward/King Edward VII in the film. As he speaks, we see clips from the film.

Guy Pearce: He doesn't have the sort of the flair and the confidence that, that his, that his brother does and, em, so even prior to the abdication and prior to him having to become king, he's just sort of struggling with, with, ah, the, the world that he's in anyway.

Descriptor: We now see a clip from the film with Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush.

Geoffrey Rush: I can cure your husband, but for my method to work, I need trust and total equality, here in the safety of my consultation room.

Helena Bonham Carter: When can you start?

Descriptor: We once again see Geoffrey Rush. As he speaks, we see clips from the film.

Geoffrey Rush: He was a sort of failed, slightly amateur actor, more out of a passion for the, the language of Shakespeare.

Descriptor: We now see a clip from the film with Geoffrey Rush reciting Shakespeare for an audition on a stage, watched by three people.

Geoffrey Rush: Now is the winter of our discontent, made glorious summer by this sun of York.

Descriptor: We once again see Geoffrey Rush. As he speaks, we see clips from the film.

Geoffrey Rush: Australia would have been a fairly unknown quantity in the twenties and thirties to most English people, and they'd probably have a slightly, shall we say, imperial attitude towards the antipodeans (laughs).

Descriptor: Once again we see a clip from the film with Geoffrey Rush auditioning on a stage, watched by three people.

Man: I'm, I'm not hearing the cries of a deformed creature, yearning to be king, hmm? Nor did I realise Richard III was king of the colonies.

Descriptor: Once again we see Colin Firth. As he speaks, we see clips of the film.

Colin Firth: I think the premise alone is pretty compelling, this unlikely relationship between a man who lives in this very lonely and rarefied existence, and a man he's very unlikely to meet under any other circumstances.

Descriptor: We now see a clip from the film with Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush.

Geoffrey Rush: Please, call me Lionel.

Colin Firth: I, I prefer doctor.

Geoffrey Rush: I prefer Lionel. What will I call you?

Colin Firth: Your Royal Highness, and, and Sir after that.

Geoffrey Rush: How about Bertie?

Descriptor: Once again we see Colin Firth. As he speaks, we see clips of the film.

Colin Firth: He obviously feels he can't work effectively if he has to observe all those protocols, if he has to sit a certain distance from the person opposite him, and he has to bow and say, your majesty, or your royal highness, or sir, all that has to be going on when, when in fact he has to break down a few barriers in order to be able to help this man.

Descriptor: We now see a clip from the film with Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush.

Colin Firth: I'm not here to discuss personal matters.

Geoffrey Rush: Why are you here then?

Descriptor: We now hear Geoffrey Rush as we see clips of the film, before finally seeing him once again.

Geoffrey Rush: He kind of pioneered, ah, an almost psychotherapeutic approach that he knew the problem was not simply a physical one, that there was something, mostly around the age of four or five, some kind of trauma within the child that creates stammering.

Descriptor: We now hear Colin Firth as we see clips of the film, before finally seeing him once again.

Colin Firth: There was a technical side to it as well, but even that, I think, did something to help break down the formality of their relationship. I mean it's very, very difficult to continue to keep a distance from somebody if you've been rolling around on the floor with them. Like all relationships which are meaningful, they're not smooth.

Descriptor: We now see a clip from the film with Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush.

Colin Firth: What are you doing?

Colin Firth: Get up, you can't sit there, get up!

Geoffrey Rush: Why not, it's a chair?

Colin Firth: No it, that is not a chair, that is, that, that is Saint Edward's chair.

Geoffrey Rush: People have carved their names on it.

Colin Firth: That chair is the seat on which every king and queen...

Geoffrey Rush: It's held in place by a large rock.

Colin Firth: That is the stone of Scone, you are, are trivialising everything.

Descriptor: Once again we see Colin Firth. As he speaks, we see clips of the film.

Colin Firth: They have rows and they make it up again and, you know, we called it the bromance, ah, which it is, it's, em, it's a brotherly love story.

Descriptor: We now see the film being shot, as we hear Guy Pearce speak, before once again seeing him.

Guy Pearce: Colin's just delightful, you know, it's a thrill to share the screen with him and to watch him. You know, that's one of the great things about being an actor, is actually sort of being in front of other actors while they do their stuff and kind of going wow. So he's got a really great sense of drama and what's entertaining. You know, there's a lot going on.

Descriptor: We now see the film being shot, as we hear Geoffrey Rush speak, before once again seeing him.

Colin Firth: The role has, ah, enormous dimension and a lot of texture to it, because it's the journey towards becoming a king, or becoming a human being, in a funny sort of way. And watching him do that has been beautiful, heart breaking, ah, very powerful, he's just found this extraordinary variation, depending on who he's with as a character, you know, how, how debilitating or how frustrating the, the level of stammering can become.

Descriptor: We now see the film being shot, as we hear Tom Hooper speak, before once again seeing him.

Tom Hooper: I think he's risen to the challenge and I think it's, it's a truly great performance. This film stands or falls by the amount you care about this guy's fate, Colin's genius is, is the extent to which he allows you in and allows you to care for him and, and want him to succeed.

Descriptor: We see clips from the film, with close up shots of both Colin Firth's and Geoffrey Rush's faces.

Descriptor: Finally we see a black background with the UK Film Council Lottery Funded logo.