Plot Synopsis

In 1956 England, a lead anchorman, an ambitious young producer, and a renegade journalist work together to develop a new BBC investigative news program called "The Hour." While they try to create the ground-breaking news show they've always yearned for, they battle professional jealousy and personal relationship issues as their lives become intertwined with the real-life events they cover. Hector, married to the indulged daughter of millionaire industrialist Wallace Sherwin, is looking for an intellectual challenge and spark -- but he finds it in Bel rather than his wife Marnie when he joins "The Hour" as the lead anchor. Mirroring the behavior of her mother Verda, otherwise-good-girl Bel had endless affairs with married men that were quiet acts of rebellion, but as the producer of "The Hour" she is forced to re-evaluate her relationship with Freddie, her life-long best friend and soulmate, after meeting Hector. Freddie is the home-affairs correspondent who worked with Bel for four years before they started "The Hour," and during that time he fell completely in love with her -- a fact he keeps close to his heart. At the end of Season 1 during the Suez Crisis, the teams defies government instructions, leading to disastrous consequences for the news team. Season 2 opens one year later -- after "The Hour" was unceremoniously taken off air -- and Freddie has been fired, while Bel fought to stay. Randall Brown, the new Head of News, insists "The Hour" cover the government's new civil defense manual -- an idea resisted by Bel -- and brings in Freddie to stir up the team. Meanwhile, Hector's decision to ignore his marital problems with Marnie has drawn him deep into the glamour of Soho club, El Paradis. BBC America aired the U.S. premiere of THE HOUR on Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 10pm ET. More than 15 months later, BBC America broadcast the Season 2 opener in the United States on Wednesday, November 28, 2012 at 9pm ET.