Not fundamentally a faithful adaptation

I cannot fault the acting and the production values which are up to high BBC standards. The actors capture their characters well and, disregarding the first three and the last two minutes, it is faithful to the book and captures the small town atmosphere well. The coming of age of Anna Tellwright is very well done. This is a detailed story where small things mean a lot and they are all there. However, I think the adaptation itself is fundamentally flawed because of those first three and last two minutes.



The opening minutes set the scene and, crucially, the characters all find out something tragic that Arnold Bennett deliberately kept from the characters in his book. In his last line, he delivers a piece of information about one of the main characters, William Price, and has the reader imagine the life of Anna comforted by thoughts of something that we know is not true. In this adaptation, they all find out about this news in the opening three minutes and the rest of the story (which does remain faithful) leads up to this point. I don't mind a little bit of dramatic licence but this changes the whole tone of the piece and is just wrong.



There are enough tragic events that alter the lives of the characters but the book at least leaves us with some small glimmer of light and this adaptation sweeps it away at the stroke of a pen and gives a completely different outcome in a way that I cannot forgive and which spoils my enjoyment of the drama.



If you know the book, prepare for the shock of the opening scene, after which it gets back on track until the closing two minutes.

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2 people found this helpful

Beautiful and clostraphobic

The genius of the Methodist movement is positive supportive networks that you can journey through life with. This powerful and challenging drama unravels how scandals and judgement can undo even the most holy of communities.

The style of the drama is stripped back so really one to listen to via headphones etc so you pickup with subtle bits of wild track that add deep substance to some brilliant audio performances

Only marked 4 star as wished it were longer!

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