Doctor Thorne

Really enjoyed this period drama series! The acting by the perfectly chosen cast was excellent and the beautiful scenic photography, even the slower pace made it more in tune with life in those days. Wish there had been more than one series.

Anthony Trollope's novels have been mined for TV productions for decades, so we shouldn't be surprised that Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes decided to take a crack at one. And he does rather well. Here's hoping he'll serialize Trollope's remaining Barsetshire books.

For readers of Trollope's novels (as with Jane Austen's) it can be a bit of a shock to see them somewhat sensationalized and in a necessarily condensed format. But the needs of present day audiences require it. Consequently, though, the result is often a sort of high-brow soap opera and Fellowes' Dr. Thorne is no exception.

However, the production is pretty, and the characterization right on point, if a bit over the top. Though for me, Ian McShane breathed life and depth into Trollope's somewhat one-dimensional Mr. Scatcherd. Alison Brie does the same for another Victorian cliché: the American heiress in search of a titled husband. With an ever-present smile, she makes Miss Dunstable's gently spoken directness seem downright raunchy. It's a delight to watch.

Why bother saying more. If you like the Downton Abbey genre, you are going to see this and you are going to like it. End of story.

Doctor Thorne (TV Series 2016) is an adaption of the third of Anthony Trollope's Barchester Chronicles. In England, the series was shown in three episodes. In the U. S., on DVD, it was shown as four episodes. Julian Fellowes, who wrote the screenplay, provided commentary on each episode, to expand each episode to an hour in length. The series was directed by Niall MacCormick.

Tom Hollander stars as Doctor Thorne, a country doctor who lives in Barchester with his niece, Mary. Mary is played to perfection by the enchanting Stefanie Martini. Harry Richardson portrays Frank Gresham, who is the Romeo to Mary's Juliet. All three are highly skilled actors, and it was a pleasure to watch them at work.

However, for me, acting honors go to Rebecca Front as Frank's mother, Lady Arabella Gresham. Squire Gresham, Frank's father, has squandered the family fortune. For Lady Arabella, the only avenue open for the Greshams is for Frank to "marry money." Mary Thorne isn't poor, but she certainly isn't rich. She simply won't do for Frank, and Lady Arabella fights like a mother tiger to "protect" her son. (Of course, she's really protecting herself and the family, but that's a subtle distinction that doesn't slow her down.)

Although this isn't a BBC production, it looks like one. It was produced by ITV, a British commercial TV channel. Obviously, ITV knows that viewers expect high production values in a film adapted from a Trollope novel.

This series was made for the small screen, so obviously it works well on DVD. The IMDb rating for the series is 7.2. Pretty good, but not good enough. I rated it 9. My suggestion is to find it and see it. You won't be disappointed.

I couldn't stop watching. Classic British TV and I love it.

Somehow Julian Fellows has managed to take one of Trollope's better books and turn it into a romance novel. All the psychology and wit that Trollope brought to his books is gone; what's left is a basic soap opera without any charm or energy. Still, the costumes are marvelous, the cinematography solid, and the acting good (although the actress playing Mary is not quite up to the task of competing with her more accomplished cast). But what really rankles is Mr. Fellows himself, introducing and then exiting from each episode with a startling degree of pomposity and pretentiousness that would make him a stock character as the fool in any Victorian novel.