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An outstanding BBC adaptation of Wilkie Collins’ Victorian mystery thriller, this 1982 serialisation of The Woman in White features an excellent cast and, happily, sticks closely to the original story.

On his last night in London, the life of Walter Hartright (Daniel Gerroll) is changed forever after a chance encounter with a mysterious woman,
dressed in white and in deep distress. Travelling north, Hartright takes up a post as a drawing master to Laura Fairlie (Jenny Seagrove), a beautiful woman bearing an astonishing resemblance to the woman in white. Soon Hartfield, Laura and her half-sister Marian (Diana Quick) find themselves drawn into to the sinister intrigues of Sir Percival Glyde (John Shrapnel) and his charming, sinister, vanilla bonbon-loving friend Count Fosco (a brilliant Alan Badel). Only by unravelling the mystery woman’s dark secret can they escape from the web of deceit closing around them.

Chilling, thrilling and filled with twists, this slowly unravelling nightmare is period drama at its best.