Two TV Treats
On the face of it Jane Austen’s Emma and Alan Ball’s True Blood are worlds apart but both are highly watchable and brilliantly acted and produced. It was a foregone conclusion that I would watch the latest production of Emma - just finished on BBC1- and this was the best I have seen. The eponymous heroine played by Romola Garai looked strangely familiar and I discovered some years earlier she had been the horrid little girl who caused all the trouble in the film Atonement.
I always wait anxiously for the scene on Box hill when Emma makes fun of Miss Bates and earns Mr Knightley’s disapproval.
‘Badly done Emma! Badly done!’
This is quite painful for me as it takes me back to when, aged 19, I had a row with my sister, lost my temper and earned the same reaction from MTL and when we split I believed it was because I too had ‘badly done.’ I recognise Emma’s mortification only too well.
Romola is totally believable in the part and it was fascinating to see the range of expressions flit across her face. Jonny Lee Miller is convincing as Mr Knightley; he is not tall but had a towering presence and the romance was just as pleasing as the one in Pride and Prejudice – if a little more subtle.
Less predictable was my appreciation of True Blood with some graphic sex scenes and – of all things vampires but – rather like The Sopranos, one is drawn in at the first scene and perfect casting makes the series unmissable for me. The heroine Anna Paquin has a lovely gap- toothed innocence – faintly familiar as she played the little girl in Jane Campion’s film The Piano. Some time ago I was asked who I would like to play me if my book ever was made into a film and Anna Paquin would be my dream choice.
The vampire hero – Stephen Moyer is new to me and I can’t take my eyes off him when he is on screen. Every member of the cast makes this a memorable production but a particular joy is Rutina Wesley – a black actress with attitude. I look forward to seeing more of her. The series continues on Wednesday
Emma is finished but is bound to be out on DVD before long. It’s a pleasure to see new actors raising the plate and Brad Pitt and George Clooney should look to their laurels.
See photos below
