Daniel Deronda has some good elements and characters. The Jewish element is unusual and interesting. Gwendolen is well played, but so unlikeable she risks sinking the ship. The villains are villainous and well acted, if a bit hackneyed. Unfortunately, the hero Daniel is not one of the interesting characters, at least as portrayed here. Whether another actor could have made more of the role I cannot say.
The settings are great and the costumes are luxurious but very obviously costumes and not lived-in clothes. We are watching beautiful tableaux -- Victorian eye candy. The hair is awful, with many of the characters wearing absolutely rigid wigs that could have been sponsored by Elnet.
The BBC has churned out so many of these period dramas, some of them truly excellent, but here the machine seems to have been set to autopilot.
The settings are great and the costumes are luxurious but very obviously costumes and not lived-in clothes. We are watching beautiful tableaux -- Victorian eye candy. The hair is awful, with many of the characters wearing absolutely rigid wigs that could have been sponsored by Elnet.
The BBC has churned out so many of these period dramas, some of them truly excellent, but here the machine seems to have been set to autopilot.