British television producers have created some true masterpieces of miniseries, with "Jewel of the Crown", *Brideshead Revisited", "The First Churchill's" and "The Forsyth Saga" brilliant TV along with my favorite, "I Claudius", and this. Housewife Ruth (Julie T. Wallace) vows revenge when husband Bobbo (Dennis Waterman) leaves her for glamorous romance novelist Mary Fisher (Patricia Hodge), and like Livia in "I Claudius", sets about a reign of terror that impacts not only Mary, Bobbo and her two children, but various lovers that she takes over the years as part of her revenge, including the loving nurse Miriam Margolyes, and even priest Tom Baker.
The urge is there to compare this to the 1989 Hollywood version of the Fay Weldon novel, but that cut out so much. You can't capture in 90 minutes what this does in just under four hours and the novel did in dozens of chapters. The ensemble and direction are all brilliant, with Liz Smith as Mary's mother another standout. As fun as Streep and Barr are, they are weakened by the poor script and direction which made it more camp than substantial.
Margolyes of course has gone onto greater success internationally since this, and she's an absolutely fascinating presence here. Of course, Ruth does become a bit demented in her determination, and you wonder how someone can find happiness like this. But some of the ridiculous elements aside, this is just absolutely wonderful to watch, filled with so many ironies and you just can't help but laugh as everything is revealed.
The urge is there to compare this to the 1989 Hollywood version of the Fay Weldon novel, but that cut out so much. You can't capture in 90 minutes what this does in just under four hours and the novel did in dozens of chapters. The ensemble and direction are all brilliant, with Liz Smith as Mary's mother another standout. As fun as Streep and Barr are, they are weakened by the poor script and direction which made it more camp than substantial.
Margolyes of course has gone onto greater success internationally since this, and she's an absolutely fascinating presence here. Of course, Ruth does become a bit demented in her determination, and you wonder how someone can find happiness like this. But some of the ridiculous elements aside, this is just absolutely wonderful to watch, filled with so many ironies and you just can't help but laugh as everything is revealed.