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Rating 4
Written by Peter Bowker, based on the book ‘Desperate Romantics: The Private Lives of the Pre-Raphaelites’ by Franny Moyles
Directed by Paul Gay (episodes 1, 2 and 3), Diarmuid Lawrence (episodes 4, 5 and 6)
Starring Aidan Turner (Dante Gabriel Rossetti), Rafe Spall (William Holman Hunt), Samuel Barnett (John Everett Millais), Sam Crane (Fred Walters), Amy Manson (Elizabeth Siddal), Jennie Jacques (Annie Miller), Tom Hollander (John Ruskin), Zoë Tapper (Effie Ruskin / Effie Gray Millais), Dyfrig Morris (William Morris), Peter Sandys-Clarke (Edward Burne-Jones), Natalie Thomas (Jane Burden), Rebecca Davies (Fanny Cornforth), Poppy le Friar (Rose la Touche), Mark Heap (Charles Dickens), Ian Puleston-Davies (Mr Siddal), Polly Kemp (Mrs Siddal), Josie Farmiloe (Charlotte Siddal), Philip Davis (Frank Stone)
‘Desperate Romantics’ is a bawdy and exuberant six-part BBC television drama that tells the story of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, the art movement founded in London in 1848. Keeping its tongue firmly in its cheek much of the time, it plays rather like ‘Carry On Pre-Raphaelites’.
Concentrating on the movement’s three founders, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais, it is told through the eyes of a wholly fictional character, Fred Walters. All other main characters are based on real people (with the possible exception of Charlotte Siddal, who I do not know about and who, in any case, plays a small role here).
The series, written by Peter Bowker, whose previous work includes a brilliant updating of Geoffrey Chaucer’s ‘The Miller’s Tale’, plays fast and loose with the truth, but almost everything represented here is based on fact, even if the timelines are distorted for dramatic effect. One small example of this is the reference made to ‘A Child’s World’ (aka ‘Bubbles’), the painting by John Everett Millais that was first exhibited in 1886 and created some controversy during the artist’s lifetime because of its use in a long-running advertising campaign for Pear’s transparent soap. Despite the appearance of an early draft of this work in ‘Desperate Romantics’, the series actually ends some seventeen years earlier in 1869 when Dante Gabriel Rossetti had the body of his wife and muse Lizzie Siddal exhumed so that he could retrieve a small journal of poems he had placed in the coffin.
The six one hour episodes are tremendous fun and pass by quickly – the melancholy concluding episode ends on just the right note of irreverence. The cast is as near to perfect as it is possible to get and there are some fabulous performances. There has been some talk of a second season, which would certainly be possible by drawing on the lives of other later members and associates of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. The possibility is enticing and the ending of the final episode does seem to suggest an open door for the future, but it would have a lot to live up to and I would not wish the energy and high spirits of these first six episodes to be dampened.‘Desperate Romantics’ inspired me to revisit the work of Rossetti, Hunt and Millais and that is probably the biggest compliment I can give it.
Review posted 29 August 2009
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Rating 2
Created by Johnny Capps and Julian Murphy
Written by Peter Tabern (three episodes), Lucy Watkins (two episodes) and Howard Overman (one episode)
Directed by Tom Harper (three episodes) and Matthew Evans (three episodes)
Starring Christian Cooke, Philip Glenister, Zoë Tapper, Holly Grainger, Saskia Wickham, Mackenzie Crook and Richard Wilson
Teenager Luke Rutherford (Christian Cooke) meets his godfather Rupert Galvin (Philip Glenister) for the first time. Galvin tells him he is the last Van Helsing and it is his destiny to fight “half-lives”, vampires and dark forces from the supernatural world. Luke is introduced to Mina Hawker, the same Mina Hawker who appeared in Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel ‘Dracula’, and is thrown into a strange and dangerous netherworld, unwittingly dragging his friend Ruby (Holly Grainger) in with him.
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The remarkable success of the revived ‘Doctor Who’ has opened the door to several shows with a supernatural or fantasy/horror theme. ‘Primeval’ was the immediate ITV answer to the celebrated BBC series and a third season of that show has been commissioned. Now comes ‘Demons’, once again targeting the Saturday teatime family audience, with a basic premise that rather blatantly copies ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’. Its first season ran for six episodes between 3 January and 7 February 2009.
Whereas ‘Doctor Who’ can command viewing figures in excess of 10 million and ‘Primeval’ averaged 6.2 million across its first two seasons, ‘Demons’ saw a dramatic and almost immediate decline in viewers, dropping from 6.3 million for the first episode to 4.2 million by the time of episode four.
The series never fires on all cylinders, although it is not a complete failure. The biggest problem lies with the main characters – and that is a serious problem. Luke is self-centred in the way that teenagers tend to be, but he has no discernible personality and, as seen through his attitude towards his friend Ruby, he is, putting it politely, routinely pig ignorant. Philip Glenister adopts a terrible American accent for his portrayal of Rupert Galvin, which does nothing to enhance the character. Zoë Tapper’s muted performance as Mina Hawker is, I assume, intended to give her a mysterious and otherworldly air, but it does tend to suck the life out of the character. Only Ruby has any real spark.
Mackenzie Crook, famous for his roles in ‘The Office’ and the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ films, puts in an amusing turn in two episodes as the vampire Gladiolus Thrip; basically David Bowie in Teddy Boy garb with a false nose. Richard Wilson could have been used more in the role of the zombie priest Father Simeon.
The series received a mixed reaction from television critics and the already declining viewing figures suggest there is no guarantee it will return for a second season. If it does and it manages to breathe some life into the characters, there is hope, but it needs to establish its own identity. At the moment it is just a pale imitation of the various sources it has clearly copied.
Review posted on 8 Febuary 2009
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Rating 4
Directed by Tim Fywell
Written by Andrew Davies, adapted from the novel by Sarah Waters
Starring Anna Madeley, Zoe Tapper, Amanda Plummer, Anna Massey, Anne Reid and Domini Blythe
A year after the death of her father, Margaret Prior (Anna Madeley), who is being sedated by her mother with large daily doses of laudanum, becomes a “lady visitor” at Millbank Prison. Margaret, who is resisting pressure from her domineering mother to marry, takes a particular interest in Selina Dawes (Zoe Tapper), a young medium who claims to be innocent of the crimes she has been found guilty of committing. A close bond is formed between the two women, as Margaret comes to terms with the increasing distance she feels from her one-time best friend and lover, who is now married to her brother.
Sarah Waters’ novel ‘Affinity’ was first published in 1999, a year after her debut work ‘Tipping the Velvet’. Set in Victorian England and using Spiritualism as its central theme, it is a mixture of ghost story and romantic love story, influenced by Gothic novelists like Wilkie Collins and the ghost stories of M R James. The television adaptation was written by Andrew Davies, whose other work includes the superb 2005 adaptation of ‘Bleak House’ and the more recent ‘Little Dorrit’. He also wrote the screenplays for the two ‘Bridget Jones Diaries’ films.
It is a brilliant example of a Christmas ghost story, although not actually set at Christmas time. The atmosphere throughout remains oppressively gloomy. I found it interesting to observe the depiction of a Victorian women’s prison, but even more interesting was the relationship between Margaret and her mother. We are initially led to assume the laudanum is administered because Margaret is grieving for the death of her father, but it seems likely her mother is aware of her “unnatural” inclinations, as they would undoubtedly be perceived, something that remains unspoken, but is ever present. The course of action chosen by the man Margaret is expected to marry, intended to rid her of her ills, is to attempt to rape her, but she remains defiant throughout.
The acting is excellent, particularly that of Anna Madeley and Zoe Tapper.
Highly recommended.
Review posted 31 December 2008
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‘Desperate Romantics’ is a bawdy and exuberant six-part BBC television drama that tells the story of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, the art movement founded in London in 1848. Keeping its tongue firmly in its cheek much of the time, it plays rather like ‘Carry On Pre-Raphaelites’.
The series, written by Peter Bowker, whose previous work includes a brilliant updating of Geoffrey Chaucer’s ‘The Miller’s Tale’, plays fast and loose with the truth, but almost everything represented here is based on fact, even if the timelines are distorted for dramatic effect. One small example of this is the reference made to ‘A Child’s World’ (aka ‘Bubbles’), the painting by John Everett Millais that was first exhibited in 1886 and created some controversy during the artist’s lifetime because of its use in a long-running advertising campaign for Pear’s transparent soap. Despite the appearance of an early draft of this work in ‘Desperate Romantics’, the series actually ends some seventeen years earlier in 1869 when Dante Gabriel Rossetti had the body of his wife and muse Lizzie Siddal exhumed so that he could retrieve a small journal of poems he had placed in the coffin.
