Great Expectations

I keep coming to the BBC's new adaption of Leo Tolstoy's War & Peace with great expectations. It's shot deliciously with sumptuous sets and wallpaper to die for (...) but for me it's missing that killer mojo.

Take Sunday's episode which I watched last night. There was a cracking scene of Russian folk singing and dancing out in the sticks. It felt hugely authentic, an undercurrent lacing through it of passion and loss. It was wonderful! Sadly the episode just couldn't return to these heady heights, falling instead into schmaltz that belittles the power of the story.

We're way past halfway in now, 4 episodes of 6, and I'm far from convinced.

Still loving that wallpaper.

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