"Fanny Hill" (2007) TV series

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

James Hawes

Writers:

Andrew Davies (screenplay)
John Cleland (novel)

Release Date:

22 October 2007 (UK)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Orphaned by smallpox, young Lancashire country lady Fanny Hill cheerfully accepts her friend Esther...

Plot Keywords:

Underwear | Female Nudity | Prostitution | Male Nudity | Kissing

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Hugo Speer	...	Mr. H
Rebecca Night	...	Fanny Hill
Emma Stansfield	...	Esther Davies
Tony Guilfoyle	...	Old Clergyman
Alison Steadman	...	Mrs. Brown
Louisa Clein	...	Susan
Joanna Miller	...	Emma
Carli Norris	...	Phoebe
Philip Jackson	...	Mr. Crofts
Alex Robertson	...	Charles Standing
Ruth Sheen	...	Mrs Jones
Samantha Bond	...	Mrs. Coles
Richard Riddell	...	William
Kayleigh Folcarelli	...	Florence
Claire Murphy	...	Louisa

Runtime:

60 min (2 episodes)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Certification:

Netherlands:16 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England, UK

Company:

Sally Head Productions

Trivia:

Although the word "fanny" is nowadays widely used as British slang for the female genitals, and has been since the 19th century, this connotation was unknown at the time when John Cleland wrote his novel. Consequently, lines such as Mrs Coles's "Be gentle with my little Fanny, sir" would not have been seen as double-entendres.

Quotes:

[Fanny is trying to encourage Percival to make love to her. He is very naive and only knows how bulls and cows mate. His father and Mrs Coles are listening outside the bedroom door]
Percival Harding: Is it time to climb on your back now, Fanny?
Fanny Hill: [coyly] I think we may do it face-to-face.
Percival Harding: How shall we do that?
Fanny Hill: Like this. Suppose I lift my leg like this, then put my other one...
Mr. Harding: [shouts from outside the door] Come on, my son!
Percival Harding: [shouts excitedly to his father] It's in! It's in!
Mr. Harding: Oh, well done! Well done!
[Mrs Coles and the other prostitutes join in the laughter and rejoicing]

A fun period romp with good tone and delivery

Fanny is a young innocent lass from Yorkshire who meets a new friend as she heads to London. She finds herself fortunately falling into the care of Mrs Brown and her home for young women. Fanny quickly finds that Mrs Brown's girls are not really keeping their virtue for the right young man but rather are loose women available for payment. With a terrible first experience, Fanny flees Mrs Brown with a young man who she loves and loves her. Things appear to be on the up for the innocent young girl, but soon she is back in harm's way with little to fall back on but her innocent appeal.

I dismissed this when it came out originally because to me it just looked like another bodice ripper with sex and nudity served up in a "high-brow" package that makes it OK in a way that, for example, nudity in frat-style comedies is crude and wrong. This father snobbish attitude did put me off, plus the fact that my experiences of Andrew Davies suggested that he starts with the sexual content and then works backwards to the substance – an approach that doesn't always work for me. However I decided to give Fanny Hill a go (oh-err missus) and I'm glad I did because it was enjoyable in a big romping sort of way. The nudity is of course quite explicit for what older viewers will be used to but it is well done because it fits the overall upbeat mood of the film.

To my mind there was an element of risk with this because think how tasteless it would have been if the mood hadn't worked, after all this is a story about a woman given into prostitution and left with little option but to have sex with multiple partners in order to survive. To suggest that this may not be the subject of a fun drama special is not that unreasonable given the problems of people trafficking. But it does work and the device of having Fanny narrate her own story with a cheeky tone of voice and happy reflection; this allows the viewer to relax – after all if she is fine with it, we can be too.

The story is engaging and I was interested in the character so that the sex and nudity was not the "all" of the film but rather just an element of the telling. Hawes' direction is good but the sets and costumes deserve mention – they are not convincing in regards the period but they are very good in regards the genre standards and in this way it all works. Night leads the cast really well with a cheerfully big performance but yet also with a certain amount of emotion and genuine feeling. Her support is all good as well, with everyone on the same genre page. Bond, Stansfield, Sheen, Steadman and others all do good work.

Fanny Hill was promoted and discussed in regards the sexual content but this is doing it a disservice because it is more than that. The tone and style is all about being a bawdy romp and it works, covering the rather unsavoury aspects of the story. Ultimately it is a typical BBC period romp but it is an enjoyable and entertaining example thereof, with good delivery all round.