Brat Farrar

I actually saw this when it was first aired on the BBC, over the course or a few weeks I got hooked. I was actually totally distraught when I went on holiday the week of the last instalment, and forgot to set the video. I got hold of the book on holiday, but as with many TV or Film adaptation their are always differences (Althought it was as close as i've seen an adaptation), and I am still wishing almost 20 years on that I had seen that last instalment. As you can tell from that comment I thought it was a great watch at the time. Unfortunately the BBC is yet to cotton onto the fact that there are many people out there waiting for them to release the DVD. Even though after 20 years I am sure it has dated I would still be at the front of the queue, jumping up and down to get my copy! If you ever see it up for a rerun (which so far I never have) then I would definitely recommend it to be watched. I believe that sometime this year, or next, there is a remake with Ben Afflek being made. Even though I might give this a watch, I am sure Brat will suddenly sprout a Yank accent and the British estate be transplanted to the mid-west or some such "across the pond" location. Ho Hum. *Am hoping that this might poke the BBC into releasing the UK version, as interest in the story will be sparked. One can always hope! :o)

First off, Josephine Tey died in the early 1950s, so her participation in this project or 'Paranoiac' (an earlier poster comments on Tey's direct participation in both these projects, and "storming" off the set of 'Paranoiac' despite having been dead a decade! Which certainly sounds more like the plot outline for a Hammer film!) must have been facilitated through a seance or oujia board session. In any case, Miss Tey's ghost was certainly justified in "storming" of the set of 'Paranoiac'. The earlier film is an enjoyable B movie which simply bastardizes the novel and has Oliver Reed going completely looney tunes by the end. This version does owe more to Robert Bloch's 'Psycho' than it does to Tey's 'Brat Farrar'. I would surmise that Hammer optioned the film rights to 'Brat Farrar' only to avoid any potential copyright conflicts.

The 1986 Television version of 'Brat Farrar' is much more faithful to the novel than 'Paranoiac' (This is probably due to the direct involvement of Miss Tey's poltergeist!) One major difference is that Farrar & Simon are now played by the same actor. In 'Paranoiac' Reed's brother was played by another actor who had no physical resemblance to him at all -- being that the characters in the Hammer film were no longer identical twins, in fact they were re-named! The lead does a remarkable job in playing both th ersatz 'Brat Farrar' and the cunning, sociopathic Simon. Despite the fact that, at points, the effect of the actor being on screen as both characters looks fake (as it did in many movies, especially flatly lit television movies in those pre, or very early post CGI days) the lead actor was able and adept enough in both performances, that I very often forgot that this was the same man. Another major advantage that 'Brat Farrar' has over 'Paranoiac', is that it was shown over the course of a few episodes (two at least if memory serves me!) and the tension is allowed to build slowly, almost painfully, to it's concluding climax. Despite being a British television film, the look, and feel of 'Brat Farrar' is much more akin to an American TV Soap Opera, and oddly enough, this adds greatly to the surreal, almost claustrophobic tone of deception and imminent danger.

The movies is served well by the fact that plot is allowed time to develop. This also allows the actors to develop and reveal their character's true natures and motives slowly, with all due fairness to the earlier film, 'Paranoiac' didn't have this luxury given the limitations of a feature film's restricted time frame. 'Brat Farrar' features a great cast especially the lead actor. Also noteworthy is Francis Matthews, a good actor who incidentally was featured in many Hammer horror films of the 1950s and 60s. If you can find this film, it is well worth watching!

Our family was fortunate to have taped this off the TV broadcast many years ago when A & E still aired these excellent British series. We have watched it many times and invariably find it wonderful. The cast is uniformly outstanding, the characterizations are subtle and multi-layered, and although we know the outcome by now, it is still very suspenseful.

I can't imagine why this hasn't been released in video format, and I wish PBS or A & E would air this Josephine Tey classic mystery again.

The memorable and slightly annoying theme music still lingers on in my mind...

That withstanding, for a while this was a captivating weekend daytime drama, featuring stage actor Mark Greenstreet delivering a terrific performance as the titular character AND his brother Simon.

Francis Matthews (who was the brilliant Paul Temple) hams it up as a foppish actor who talks Brat into impersonating someone thought to have committed suicide years before.

The uncanny resemblance and weeks of training secure the confidence of the family and the legal eagles and Brat is soon welcomed into the rich family by all... except the brother Simon Ashby.

Then things start to get weird as he starts to fancy his supposed sister Eleanor (a delicious 20-year-old Dominique Barnes - whatever happened to her?) and his integrity and suspicions start to get the better of him.

Episode 1 is a treat as things happen quickly and the plot is set in motion. The second episode doesn't do much except flesh out the characters and give us insights into the world of equestrian royalty. The finale does much the same thing except for the last 15 minutes where things come to a head and loose ends are tied up.

Most of us watching today will have already guessed what's going on... and even back in 1986, there wasn't much subtlety as to who was guilty of what! There's a strange direction to this drama that reminds me of the live action dramas that were made for children at that time, but this seems to have been marketed at adults, so I could be wrong.

Anyway... it's dated of course but still has a unique character of its own which makes it worth watching again.

Saw this first as a small child, since my mom watched all the British mini series on Mystery! on PBS. We ended up seeing it again re-run on the Disney channel of all places. Mark Greenstreet was fantastic in this playing dual roles flawlessly. I wish so badly that he had become "James Bond" at some point, or risen to super stardom in some other way. Its a mystery to me why Mr. Greenstreet or this series are not more widely well-known. Just thinking about this series still makes me yearn to move to England and run a riding stable.