Lark Rise to Dickens

[Rheghead]

Another 'historical' costume drama is to hit our screens in the form of Lark Rise to Candleford. Admittedly, I haven't read a jot about this adaptation or the original, etc etc, but I do find it annoying when historical dramas get rewritten so that they reflect modern ethics and politics. Life on Mars exposed this nonsense so well. Why are the original classic novels not good enough? Does anyone else think that we are all too often spoon-fed pc rubbish as a mind-altering tactic?

[Angela]

I did think the recent adaptation of Cranford was one of the best things on the BBC in 2007. :)
It wasn't true to "Cranford" the novel (which I had thought dull and boring beyond belief when I'd been forced to read it at school) but incorporated other works by Elizabeth Gaskell, presumably to make a more enjoyable and accessible story for viewers.
To me it was a wonderful production, with such subtle and delicate acting -less was definitely more! I accept that it didn't stick to the original novel, but I think it did keep to the spirit of its times. I certainly don't think it was rubbish, spoon feeding or mind altering! :roll:
I'd love to see more TV like Cranford and will be giving Lark Rise to Candleford (which I've never felt tempted to read) a try.

[iain]

Read Lark Rise and it was very good,but tv progs are only ever based on the book, sometimes not all that exact but hopefully it will be entertaining

[JAWS]

Rheghead, what else would you expect when they are reducing the Plays of Shakespeare in some schools to comic strips with "Word Bubbles" using the modern vernacular and no mention of the original wording.

It's a little like teaching that Burns' "Address to the Haggis" starts with, "Yo, top o'th puddin' gang" without them being told the original version. It might make Burns easier for some youngsters to understand than the original wording in some of his poems, but is it still Burns?

If teaching Shakespeare in schools is being reduced to the level of reading The Beano then what chance is there for decent works of literature transformed into TV Programmes just for entertainment?