Gallery 1 Robinson Crusoe
Gallery2 Tess of The D'Urberviles
Documentary C4 8pm (Saturday 12th July 2003
The subject – the history of the English novel – is hardly a natural for television, but this four-part series makes a pretty good job of turning it in to something watchable. Top-notch actors – Douglas Henshall, Amanda Root and Paloma Baeza among them _ impersonate novelists and characters, and visuals, though low budget, are quite effective. What gives the series its bite, however, is the quality of John Carey’s contributions, which are always trenchant and illuminating. Part one takes us from Daniel Defoe to Jane Austen, via Samuel Richardson (Pamela, Clarissa) and Henry Fielding (Tom Jones). This is the big name (and male-dominated) approach, but it’s probably the best way to navigate through such a complicated story.
From Weekend magazine
The Novel
Channel 4 8pm ( Saturday July 12th 2003)
How refreshing to see a primetime (though it is a July Saturday) four-part series on a serious art form. It starts with a look at the career of Daniel Defoe, and his groundbreaking 1719 novel Robinson Crusoe, which delved into the inner workings of a human mind in such a way that a new genre of writing was born. David Lodge, Clare Tomalin and John Carey are among the interviewees, while Douglas Henshall reads extracts.
From Night and Day magazine