A sumptuous period drama, with a starry cast in nice frocks and tweed, set amid tumultuous social upheaval on the eve of the first world war ... but that's about all Parade's End (BBC2) has in common with Downton Abbey. Indeed Benedict Cumberbatch, star of this show, called that one sentimental, cliched, "fucking atrocious" even. Which may be harsh, but he certainly has a point.
I actually like Downton, in much the same way as I like Corrie. But this, Tom Stoppard's adaption of Ford Madox Ford's quartet of novels, directed by Susannah White, is something else – Wagner to Downton's Gilbert and Sullivan, Moët to its Cava, Swan Lake to its Strictly.
Stoppard's script is tight and perfect, and there are fine performances wherever you look. Cumberbatch is superb as Christopher Tietjens – buttoned-up, clever, honourable, peculiarly English but also oddly endearing. The stand-out performance though is from Rebecca Hall as Sylvia, his socialite wife, who's self-centred and silly, but also so beautiful and captivating it's hard not to fall a little bit in love with her, too.
READ MORE: http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2012/aug/25/parades-end-review?newsfeed=true
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