A review of the first episode and I am I have to say disappointed. I am partial to Austen/Hardy/Dickens and have enjoyed many of the recent adaptations but this is not as good. Central to this is the central character the eponymous heroine. The young actress is vapid, her accent is poor and her expression lifeless. You get the impression she is acting i.e there is no suspension of disbelief and she is, I find, annoying. Her mother too is as bad as Dawn French was in Lark Rise to Candleford! Thankfully there are others in it who can act, who go some way to redeeming it. Anna Massey as Mrs D’Urberville, Donald Sumpter as Parson Tringham, Christopher Fairbank as Groby all give good turns and Hans Matheson as Alec is suitably creepy. Unfortunately Tess does not evoke our sympathy as she is too wooden and unlikeable.

I will continue to watch in the hope that it improves, but am not expecting much…I am enjoying ‘Lost In Austen’ much more!