I’m a huge Alan Rickman fan so I was curious to see him in the role of the supercilious and odious Obadiah Slope, Chaplin to the Bishop of Barchester. Rickman, I’m happy to report, is wonderfully smarmy. Geraldine McEwan is wonderful as the Bishop’s harridan wife, Mrs. Proudie, and Susan Hampshire brilliantly plays the beautiful invalid, Signora Madeline Neroni. This 1982 BBC mini-series is based on Anthony Trollope’s The Warden and Barchester Towers. Of course this 374 minute mini-series can’t capture the subtlety of Trollope’s work, but this is a nice try. GRADE: B.
I agree on Alan Rickman and also agree on this series.
The Brits do these things so much better than we do in most cases.
The acting in most of these BBC mini-series is top-notch. I’m guessing playing Mr. Slope was a “breakthrough” role for Rickman.
So I had my husband take that Trollope book you mentioned several weeks ago out of the library. When he handed it to me, I sprained my shoulder. Only kidding, but my God, how do you have the time to read these massive books. I know you don’t watch TV but i only watch an hour a day. You must speed-read.
Once you start reading Trollope, the pages turn very quickly. You get caught up in the story lines and before you know it, you’ve finished reading the book. And, you’ll wish it was longer.