Doctor Thorne represents a new nadir in British televisual period drama, notwithstanding Fellowes' woeful track record. Resolutely "broad" pablum crudely targeting the lucrative historical nostalgia market in the U.S., this risibly perfunctory effort is wholly devoid of any artistic merit whatsoever. There is without doubt a rich seam of Trollope material tailor made for TV adaptation and earlier BBC efforts such as He Knew he was Right (2004) and The Way we Live Now (2001) were well scripted, articulate examples of such.
Fellowes adopts his usual cynical lowest common denominator approach with this particular effort which consequently renders the source material prosaically banal beyond belief. A woeful excuse for a script that would be considered too unsubtle even for pantomime, tired, rote acting from many otherwise capable professionals and grotesquely gauche and shallow character definition, represent just the high points of this monstrosity. Vacuous posturing masquerading as authentic drama and failing miserably.
Fellowes adopts his usual cynical lowest common denominator approach with this particular effort which consequently renders the source material prosaically banal beyond belief. A woeful excuse for a script that would be considered too unsubtle even for pantomime, tired, rote acting from many otherwise capable professionals and grotesquely gauche and shallow character definition, represent just the high points of this monstrosity. Vacuous posturing masquerading as authentic drama and failing miserably.