El final del desfile

Before "Parade's End," Rebecca Hall and Benedict Cumberbatch were last paired professionally in an unassuming romantic comedy called "Starter for 10," a film anchored by their friend James McAvoy. All three played university students. Although each turned in a good performance, the roles were not ones that required much acting range. In Parade's End, however, the roles of Sylvia and Christopher Tietjens allow both Hall and Cumberbatch to flex their considerable acting muscles. When both are in a scene, the scene is so riveting that it is hard to know which actor to watch.

Over the years, the 36-year-old Cumberbatch has built an impressive portfolio of work. He has been accurately described as a chameleon. He so completely invests himself in a role that it is sometimes hard to recognize the actor behind the character.

As Sylvia Tietjens, wife of wealthy landowner Christopher Tietjens, Hall holds her own against Cumberbatch. Her Sylvia is smart, narcissistic, beautiful, lusty, manipulative, and utterly fascinating. Her rival, suffragette Valentine Wannop, pales in comparison. While the younger Valentine is sweet, loyal, and plucky, she doesn't have Sylvia's fire.

Which woman will Christopher choose? You'll have to watch the series to find out. Along the way, you'll enjoy not only the performances of the three principal actors, but also the performances of a wonderful ensemble of able actors, including Rupert Everett, Anne-Marie Duff (coincidentally, the wife of James McAvoy, who joined Hall and Cumberbatch in "Starter for 10"), and others.

The show was a very intelligent yet slow paced adaptation of very high quality source material. Sometimes I got impatient in certain episodes, but am glad that I stayed the course. Benedict cumberbatch was OUTSTANDING in the role. Just brilliant. His expressions, that quiver of emotion...it said much more than words. There were some deep moments, very poignant as well. Some witty ones also. I would have rated it 7.5 if option was there. Just stay with this show, it will be a rewarding experience.

Not since A Dance to the Music of Time has such a stellar cast been allied to such an artful and unusual script.

Ford Madox Ford is not a popular novelist. His work often approaches its subjects on an elliptical curve, his principal characters are seldom in the mainstream of society, forming odd relationships, requiring his audience to assimilate their understanding of them over the course of a whole work rather than categorise from their experience (or jump to conclusions based on genre). This explains why we don't see his work adapted very often. Or even at all.

Susanna White and Tom Stoppard have both grasped the nettle of demonstrating this sideways approach, though I'm not sure quite so many kaleidoscopic shots were necessary to drive the point home. Benedict Cumberbatch joins in, underlining his character's isolation with some rather off-putting facial gestures. Ronald Hines played Tietjens in the now lost 1960's adaptation and casting to type may have worked better than struggling with toning down the matinée idol status Cumberbatch has acquired since hitting Sherlock Holmes out of the park. Maybe if he and Stephen Graham had swapped roles the other characters might have found it easier to deal with Tietjens' self-enforced oddity but that may have impaired Ford's central point, beautifully delivered as the the climax to Episode 4.

But acting idiosyncrasies cannot mask the quality of the fabulous script or the overall adaptation which has a towering performance from Rebecca Hall and glittering additions from Rufus Sewell, Rupert Everett, Miranda Richardson, Roger Allam, Ann-Marie Duff and beautiful, note-perfect newcomer Adele Clemens.

With so much glossy soap about, it is extremely refreshing to have high quality, thought-provoking, challenging drama this good whatever the lead chooses to do with his jaw muscles.

A keeper.

The first thing about this series is that the photography and production design is sumptuous and stunning. Even if the story and characters were of no interest, the visual appeal of this is memorable.

The only strange thing in this aspect of the production is that the music in scenes for the parties is jazz - 1920s sounding jazz. It is very odd and historically inaccurate for the social status of the story as jazz entered England in 1919, apparently.

As to the core of it, well, it is an abbreviated working of a complex set of novels written in a certain way and Stoppard has done well with the time limits etc of the medium. It works but one is always aware of what is being abridged to make it fit.

Cumberbatch is the most intense, internal English leading man in a long while and seems to have borrowed Jeremy Irons's mandible crunching pensiveness. But he is absolutely right here.

Hall as Sylvia Tietjens is ravishing and confused in right order. Her performance is entitled' and arrogant, though it might be a bit too modern in its overtness.

Highly recommended.

I don't like watching series or movies based on the wars but I watched this because of Benedict Cumberbatch and I have fallen in love with this series. I have not read the novels or have any idea about the writer but if the books are even half as good as the TV adaptation, they must be a must- read. Christopher Teijens is a brilliant, very committed and decent gentleman. He has a wife who cheats on him and he is love with a girl. At the backdrop is the world war 1. If you are looking for a story, there is not much of it but the true star of the show is the direction, cinematography, amazingly poetic dialogues and unblemished acting by the whole cast. The music compliments the settings and the backdrop very well. Benedict Cumberbatch has shown the world how talented he is. Flawless acting, deep emotions and superb voice modulations. Rebecca Hall and Adelaide Clemens have made the characters of Sylvia and valentine unforgettable.

Don't watch this if you are a fan of fast paced action. This is for patient, connoisseurs of literature and romantics. Watch it for intelligent viewership.