A Dance to the Music of Time DVD, 1997

The most Proustian series in English literature, Anthony Powell's A Dance to the Music of Time comprised 12 novels, written between 1951-75. It's a masterly evocation of period and a shrewd insight into the impact that even the most transient acquaintance can have on life. Adapted by Hugh Whitemore and directed by Alvin Rakoff and Christopher Morahan, Channel 4's seven-hour precis is a dazzling chronicle of the seismic shifts that transformed British manners and mores in the 60 years following the Great War. The storytelling may occasionally lack Powell's finesse, but the fates of Nicholas Jenkins and long-time friends Charles Stringham, Peter Templer and Kenneth Widmerpool will still engross Brideshead aficonados. The sense of time and place is well sustained and the cast is uniformly excellent, although Simon Russell Beale's odious Widmerpool and Miranda Richardson's insatiable Pamela Flitton stand out, as they alone are allowed to develop their characters across the decades. Watch, enjoy and then compare with the inestimable books.

David Parkinson on 17th May 2010
View all 163 of David Parkinson's reviews

This stunning four-part drama (adapted by Hugh Whitemore from the much-acclaimed novels by Anthony Powell) showcases a career-defining and extraordinary central perfor... more >

This stunning four-part drama (adapted by Hugh Whitemore from the much-acclaimed novels by Anthony Powell) showcases a career-defining and extraordinary central performance by Simon Russell Beale as the unsympathetic Widmerpool. A truly stellar cast gathers together Alan Bennett, John Gielgud and James Purefoy (wonderfully understated as the low-key central character Nick Jenkins - through whose eyes the whole semi-comic drama is seen). Acorn Media also have another complete set in a very different vein: the complete run of The Good Life, one of the few British sitcoms that combined expert comic playing with scripts that didn't insult the intelligence of its audience. It looks ever more like something from a golden age. < less

View all 501 of Barry Forshaw’s reviews

Paul Rhys gives one of the greatest performances that I have ever seen in any film ever. He plays Charles Stringham the beautiful, brilliant, doomed alcoholic; brilliant! more >

Paul Rhys gives one of the greatest performances that I have ever seen in any film ever. He plays Charles Stringham the beautiful, brilliant, doomed alcoholic; brilliant! < less