Mervyn Peake's epic books come to life in this large-scale BBC production. Gormenghast is a glorious castle, home to the ancient family of Groan. When Titus Groan, the new heir is born the evil kitchen-boy Steerpike threatens the dynasty and begins his ascent to power. Only Titus can stand in Steerpikes way. Includes 'The .. Read more
| Starring | Stephen Fry, Richard Griffiths, Celia Imrie, Warren Mitchell |
|---|---|
| Director | Andy Wilson |
| Genres | Drama, Television |
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Mervyn Peake's epic books come to life in this large-scale BBC production. Gormenghast is a glorious castle, home to the ancient family of Groan. When Titus Groan, the new heir is born the evil kitchen-boy Steerpike threatens the dynasty and begins his ascent to power. Only Titus can stand in Steerpikes way. Includes 'The Making Of...'
| Starring | Stephen Fry, Richard Griffiths, Celia Imrie, Warren Mitchell, Ian Richardson, John Sessions, Christopher Lee, Neve McIntosh |
|---|---|
| Director | Andy Wilson |
| Studio | BBC WORLDWIDE PUBLISHING |
| Run time | DVD: 4 hrs |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama, Television |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 05 Jun 2000 Production year: 2000 |
| Format | DVD |
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I'm sure that there will be plenty of suedo-intellectuals that will argue that this contains an abundance of artistic merit, but despite it containing some wonderful comic actors (Stephen Fry et al), I have rarely watched such an irritating production, 90% of this seemed to be nothing but lovies SHOUTING IN A THEATRICAL MANNER, within some lavish sets. (the production design looked good, I give it that).
I am unfamiliar with the source material so I can't comment on its adherance to the literature, but this seemed like an utterly smug BBC production featuring some truly punchable rich-kid drama students... I found this DREADFUL! The 'discworld' style surrealism doesn't appeal to me at all, and I couldn't take more than a couple of episodes of the SHOUTING! Everyone shouts!!!!! Pompous trash...
This mini-series is an adaptation of the first two of Peake's Gormenghast books and it does a reasonable job of bringing it to the screen. The themes of stagnated tradition and decay combined with the rebellions of Steerpike and Titus are well presented and the production makes a reasonable effort at depicting the huge complex castle, although a really convincing representation would require 'Lord of The Rings' production values and budgets, which certainly on offer here (so the castle and other sets often look like a models). Some of the acting is pretty good, particularly the doctor, the secretary and the Groan sisters; some is less good.
A reasonable TV adaptation of a classic fantasy novel.
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