The Woman in White

Let me endorse the other positive reviews of this program. The telling of the story is genuinely suspenseful, and just when other dramas of this ilk typically start to loose vigour or founder on their accumulated implausibilities, 'The Woman in White' steps up to a higher tempo and becomes even more intriguing. The cast are outstanding, all the way down, and the production values excellent. The only drawback is that the images in this DVD, of a program first aired in 1982, appear a bit soft and the colours a little muddy. During the first few minutes, I feared this would detract from my enjoyment, but I found the acting so strong and the story so well told that the technical shortcoming paled into insignificance. The series will repay repeated viewings because the plot is intricate, and you may not get all the connections on the first run through.

It's interesting to compare this version with the later briefer one of 1997, since they are so different. The 1997 rendering is more concentrated and more efficient as a dramatization, focusing on the dramatic highlights of Marion confronting the expected patient at the asylum and finding someone else, and of the church fire scene, which is the dramatic finale of the book as well; but this so much longer version of 1982 is definitely better made. It sticks to the book, is more realistic, it preserves the wonderful Victorian literary style, making the language almost as enjoyable as Shakespeare, and above all, the actors are all so much more convincing, with Alan Badel unforgettable as the absolutely splendid villain Count Fosco is. Diana Quick makes an equally real and true Marian, and Daniel Gerroll is the perfect Walter Hartright.

There are many supreme moments in this dramatization, usually offered by the book, like Walter's surprising presence at the grave, how Anne Catherick is always accompanied by music which almost throughout for the rest is silent, except when Laura is softly playing, all the secondary characters like the church warden, Gilmore, the housemaid, while perhaps the most impressive presence of all, like in the book, is the stunning performance by Mrs Catherick in only the fifth and final episode (Pauline Jameson). John Shrapnel as the gross human failure of Sir Percival Glyde, a monster of a brute, is also perfect in his monstrosity, while Alan Badel as Count Fosco will remain the character you'll always remember with relish. Alan Badel was always phenomenally personal in his performances and always dominated the whole scene, and here more so than ever. This could be his very best performance.

On the whole, I must agree with most other reviewers, that this is the definite film version of perhaps the greatest thriller classic ever written.

For years I have been longing to get hold of a video or DVD of this, and I share the disappointment that the BBC haven't re-released it. I agree that Alan Badel as Count Fosco was brilliant, but I also remember feeling with Walter Hartright in his astonishment at the beauty of Laura the first time he saw her, while Marian was superb as well. The casting was just right. I bought the book after watching the first episode and read it along with the series, totally absorbed by both book and TV version.

Please, please, please, BBC - let us see it again! It is one of the best things you have done that you haven't made available for watching again.

As an adaptation The Woman in White(1982) is very faithful to the book(which is a masterpiece)- not that that is essential when it comes to adapting source material- without too faithful or bogged down, it is also the only adaptation of the book that does that. As a dramatisation it is outstanding and one of the better period dramatisations of the 80s, with the slightly rushed final episode being its own detriment and even that is not enough to mar everything else that is so brilliant here. The script is thoughtful and tightly compressed, often sounding like the writing being lifted out straight from the pages of the book, it develops the characters very well too, Count Fosco is every bit the immoral man as he should be(while appearing to others as the opposite). The story takes its time to develop, but considering as it's a lengthy book and how far from easy to adapt it is that is beneficial. It is a good length, with all the themes and most situations intact and with all the emotional resonance, and is not too tedious at all despite the deliberate pacing. Visually it is an evocative adaptation with everything looking beautiful and in a way that you feel that you have been transported back in time to the time and place, a great atmosphere and fluid photography. It has been criticised on Amazon for being dated and poorly lit, that was not the case with me who thinks that it has held up well. The music is appropriate and lovely to hear, though sometimes the sound is on the hollow side. The direction makes the drama compelling and is sympathetic to the emotions that fill each scene. The acting is superb, especially from a strong-willed Diana Quick, Alan Badel's creepy and sinister(without forgetting the subtlety) Count Fosco and Ian Richardson's memorably languid and authoritative Mr Fairlie, every bit a nervous wreck. Jenny Seagrove is simply enchanting, Georgine Anderson has the right degree of iciness as Madame Fosco and Daniel Geroll is good too. Overall, outstanding and the best version of the book by some considerable margin. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Because I agree with most of the reviewers' comments already submitted, I have very little to say except that Wilkie Collins' book is beautifully constructed, well written and very re- readable. It is a tremendous challenge to adapt to a 3-4 hour format, but Ray Jenkins has met the task with minimal damage to the characterizations and intricate plot lines. Kudos to him, and to the producer & director, as well as actors. And appropriately moody music.

I did find Daniel Gerroll insipid at first as Walter, but he grows on you, and by about the third time I viewed this 1978/82 version (first broadcast in '78, rebroadcast in '82), I began to appreciate his performance very much. Seagrove, the marvelous Anna Wing (Mrs. Clements (and Pauline Jameson (Mrs. Catherick) are also excellent.

Yes, it's available as a Region 2 DVD, and because I bought a Region 2 player for $30, well worth it, to play "The Green Man," which is also on Region 2 only, I can play this one, too, but not all my classic-loving American/Canadian neighbors can, without making the player purchase or complicated adjustments to their Region 1 player.

The UK continues to create superior adaptations of classics, keeping its rich literary traditions alive in so doing, although later remakes of most classics are generally inferior to the ones created in the '70s and '80s, if you're interested in seeing a film remotely in line with what the authors intended..