There are many good aspects of this BBC production: acting, sets, costumes, direction, and even sound. Unfortunately, the script undermines all of this.
The Rag Nymph is very quick-paced, to the point of confusion. I got the feeling the writers were trying to condense a textured novel into a flat television format and never quite won. The initial introduction of characters was good, but as the plot unfolds we lose clues about the characters' motivations.
What results is a rather confusing, thin storyline that hints at greater depth. Having not read the novel, and having seen several adaptations of Cookson, I suspect this picture would be much more successful if one read the novel first. Then one could infer character development and motivation, since there's very little in the script to help us along.
The Rag Nymph is very quick-paced, to the point of confusion. I got the feeling the writers were trying to condense a textured novel into a flat television format and never quite won. The initial introduction of characters was good, but as the plot unfolds we lose clues about the characters' motivations.
What results is a rather confusing, thin storyline that hints at greater depth. Having not read the novel, and having seen several adaptations of Cookson, I suspect this picture would be much more successful if one read the novel first. Then one could infer character development and motivation, since there's very little in the script to help us along.