The Woman in White

Why, oh why, has the BBC not released this version on DVD? Judging by reviews I have seen of other versions of the Wilkie Collins classic, they are pretty poor.

This version provided unmissable viewing on Wednesday evenings back in 1982, with Alan Badel as the ominous Fosco, plus the delectable Jenny Seagrove, and a frightening woman with a hairy upper lip.

This version was also memorable for the innovative camera work and visual effects -- all non-computerised.

I hope this version has not been subject to the same BBC videotape re-use programme that has lost other classics for good, such as Michael Wood's IN SEARCH OF THE DARK AGES.

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.

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.

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..

Its 28 years since I watched this excellent BBC serialisation, and its memory is still fresh in my mind, from Alan Badel's wonderfully sinister Count Fosco, Georgine Anderson's icy Madame Fosco to Ian Richardson as the languid valetudinarian Mr Fairlie.. and all the other excellent characterisations from the rest of the cast. My first reaction on viewing it was to regret not possessing a video recorder, my second was to purchase the book, which I still re-read with pleasure. Please, please BBC release this on DVD or, failing that, has anyone a VHS copy made at the time of screening? This otherwise rather stingy Scotsman (!) would happily part with his money to obtain a copy...that's how good I think it is.

PS Today, July 5, I have just discovered that a DVD of this series is now available on Amazon..I've already ordered my copy!!