Perhaps you just can't go back. When I first saw this almost 40 years ago, it seemed fresh and smart. Today, not so much. The first six episodes are quite good, but once Sebastian disappears from the show, it basically degrades into a long and frighteningly dull dialectic on Catholicism. Worse, Jermey Irons, playing Charles Ryder, has a strange task to perform: Although on screen for almost the entire show, he is given few lines -- people give him long, increasingly dull speeches, and he generally is only allowed to nod his head or make a small, empty statement. It becomes hard to believe that anyone would want to spend time with this man who refuses to talk. By the end of the show, after all the other characters deliver their meandering monologues, Irons is only allowed to nod his head or puff on his pipe. Recommendation: stop watching after six episodes and you'll see a 10 star production. Watch the last five episodes, and you'll take a star off for each one.
Review of Brideshead Revisited
