"Vanity Fair" (1987) TV series

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

6 September 1987 (UK)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

16 half-hour episodes. In the time of Napoleon, Becky Sharp, a poor orphan girl, schemes for money and position...

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

Eve Matheson	...	Rebecca Sharp (16 episodes, 1987)
Rebecca Saire	...	Amelia Sedley (15 episodes, 1987)
Simon Dormandy	...	William Dobbin (12 episodes, 1987)
Jack Klaff	...	Rawdon Crawley (12 episodes, 1987)
David Swift	...	Mr. Sedley (11 episodes, 1987)
James Saxon	...	Joseph 'Jos' Sedley (10 episodes, 1987)
Gillian Raine	...	Mrs. Sedley (9 episodes, 1987)
Benedict Taylor	...	George Osborne (9 episodes, 1987)
Shaughan Seymour	...	Pitt Crawley (8 episodes, 1987)
Philippa Urquhart	...	Miss Briggs (8 episodes, 1987)
Freddie Jones	...	Sir Pitt Crawley (7 episodes, 1987)
Ray Mort	...	Raggles (7 episodes, 1987)

Runtime:

UK:35 min (16 episodes)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

Patrick Troughton was booked to play a major role but died before filming.

Movie Connections:

Version of Vanity Fair (1915)

Splendid thorough adaptation in all its sprawling beauty

Vanity Fair starring Eve Matheson as Becky is one of the few film adaptations of a classic novel that allows you to be unashamed that you did not read the novel. Matheson's seemingly heartless, relentlessly maneuvering Becky is a characterization that compels us to cherish the art of film acting. She is hands down the quintessential Becky Sharp. Thackeray's subplots are well executed here with remarkable actors such as Sian Phillips in a tour de force performance as Miss Crawley.

Class consciousness is at center stage here. Everyone seems to be aspiring for a coveted spot in a society that never promised anyone a perpetual rose garden. Some think themselves secure enough in that esteemed class to condescend to amuse others whom they secretly hope will never truly take a place beside them in the register of the "haves". It is with the utmost degree of mortification that the "secure" wake up in an unguarded instant to find themselves hastily uninvited to social events, and stashing away their best silks and laces against the inevitable rap of the creditor on the front door. Beg, borrow, and try not to steal to see this Vanity Fair!