FLOUNCY! Tess of the D’Ubervilles, BBC One, 9.00pm
I can’t be the only one who has always meant to read Tess of the D’Ubervilles but never quite managed it because it seems a bit long and potentially dreary, can I? So it came as something of a relief to me to see they were making this dramatisation. Normally I am all for the book over the disappointing television/film version (and likewise am all for original television shows/films rather than disappointing novelisations of them), but seeing as I am probably never going to read the book off my own back, this will let me know whether or not I am missing anything.
Gemma Arterton stars as Tess, which is a very smart piece of casting, considering that her star is very much in the ascendancy at the moment. Ruth Jones (who seems to be getting a lot of literary adaptation action at the moment – she’ll also be in Little Dorrit with Maxine Peake, Freema Agyeman and lots of other amazing people soon) plays Tess’ mother, and Anna Massey and Ian Puleston-Davies are also in the cast. Your boy eye candy is provided by historical drama veterans Hans Matheson and Eddie Redmayne.
The story of Tess’ life includes a lot of misery and heartache, but that’s just what we need as the nights are drawing in, no?
Also of note is that this series can be ‘stacked’ on the BBC iPlayer, meaning the episodes will be available throughout its run and not just for seven days. Hurrah!
And whilst we’re on the subject of tragic characters called Tess, tonight’s Casualty – look away know if you didn’t see last night’s and are waiting to catch up with it on video, iPlayer etc – follows on from last night’s bonkers (and slightly rubbish) episode with its multiple cliffhangers, the most serious of which was seeing nurse Tess impaled on some random metal spike in the middle of nowhere… will we say goodbye to one Tess just before we say hello to another? Find out on BBC One at 8.00pm.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
im sickened by that casualty episode. at first i pitied that girl for people bullying her but shes ill in the headd for taking images of Tess – even though tess is a biatch.
U-G-L-Y
you ain’t got no alibi
you ugly!