BBC Serial Mania

Just finshed watching the BBC's adaptation of Alan Hollinghurst's Man Booker Prize winner, "The Line of Beauty". I've had the book for a while now but have yet to read it. Loved his other novels The Swimming Pool Library (1988), The Folding Star (1994) and The Spell (1998). Will now put The Line of Beauty on my priority.

Once again, Andrew Davies has done a brilliant job of adaptation. The three hours went by so quickly and you get drawn into the story the same way the Nick Guest character was infatuated with the privileged lifestyle of the Feddens.

BBC: "Framed by the two General Elections which returned Mrs Thatcher to power, The Line Of Beauty is set over four extraordinary years of change and tragedy. This outsider's journey into the heart of the beautiful and seductive world of the social elite bristles with emotion, drama and social commentary. Full of style and wit, it is a richly textured coming-of-age story set in London during a ruthless decade."

It is sad how all these stories always end sadly. Unfortunate reflection of the not so fairy-tale like world in which we live perhaps?

Another such instance was the hit BBC adaptation (again by Andrew Davies) from last year, Charles Dickens' "Bleak House".

Once again, the excellent acting from an incredible cast made this drama even more compelling.

On May 7, 2006, Bleak House won the Best Drama Serial category at the British Academy Television Awards, with Anna Maxwell Martin taking the Best Actress award ahead of fellow nominee Gillian Anderson. In July 2006, the adaptation was nominated for 10 Emmy Awards including Outstanding Miniseries, Lead Actor In A Miniseries Or A Movie (Charles Dance), Lead Actress In A Miniseries Or A Movie (Gillian Anderson) and Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie (Denis Lawson). It won two Emmys, for Makeup and Cinematography in a Miniseries.

Gillian Anderson was brilliant as the Lady with a past. The close-ups allowed every nuanced twitch to be captured.

I must commend the music used in both series as well. Martin Phipps composed some really beautiful incidental music for The Line of Beauty and the very evocative theme that opens Bleak House was by John Lunn.

Watch them both. Highly recommended.