The Line of Beauty

Normally I’m wary of TV adaptations of books I love but I have to say the BBC has come up trumps with its adaptation of Alan Hollinghurst’s Booker Prize winning novel The Line of Beauty.

Andrew Davies who has a history of bringing great novels to life has created a wondefully authentic slice of England under Thatcher in the 80’s and has stuck rigidly to the books story and themes and the results is a visually stunning and rich adaptation.

The story of Nick Guest a gay, middle class boy from Northampton, who via his friend Toby Fedden is thrust into a world of money, politics and grandeur which typify the era, only to have his world and that of those around him implode in as a result of excess and scandal.

The part of Nick Guest is played brilliantly by newcomer Dan Stevens of who I’m sure we are going to see much more, the rest of the cast are perfectly played and a visual feast especially Alex Wyndham as Wani. My only quibble is I had always pictured Bill Nighy or his type playing Gerald Fedden though Bill McInnery is perfectly adequate, he just wasn’t how I imagined the part. This small quibble aside it’s an excellent script and cast and shouldn’t be missed.

For those who need to catch up the first two parts are available for download on the BBC website and episode three is this weds on BBC2

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