I read some Mervyn Peake years ago, so I know a little of his penchant for the bizarre and his love of language. I was ready to like Gormenghast, which I had not read before. This didn't work for me at all, and now I have no desire to go back an read the original.Positive: good production values, typical of British period film-making. Good actors, many familiar faces again from other UK TV films.Review. I found no characters with enough redeeming qualities to relate to in any fashion. The message is negative, ugly, gruesome, grotesque and distasteful. Likely someone involved with the production would argue that that is just the point: this is an allegory of a brutal, hateful and inhumane society. That it is, but I don't want to watch it! For entertainment to work, you have to have something that the typical human viewers can latch on to, usually by being able to empathize with at least one character. I particularly found the incessant squealing, whining, aching, hurting, yelling, and hollering of just about every character in the production very grating after only a few minutes into the film. An unpleasant viewing experience altogether.

OK, OK, I admit I enjoyed it! Now, that's out of the way. Yet somehow I feel manipulated by someone who put several plot outlines into a computer and came up with this combination of 'Hamlet' meets 'Phantom of the Opera' meets Grimm's Fairy Tales. The actors (being English) are terrific to watch go through the paces. My, we Americans can learn a lot from them. For me, Celia Imrie steals the show with her stone-faced portrayal of Mommie Queen Dearest. Second, are Zoe and Lynsey as the Siamese twins, Clarice and Cora, who are just mesmerizing to watch and fun on top. One has to root for them to the end. Mr. Meyers enjoys his evil a bit too much for me--although, I think such a part would be difficult to not become too hammy with. However, at times, I wanted nothing more than to slap him upside the head for his spoiled brat episodes when he doesn't get his way. It's all grim, grimy and gory darkness wrapped in Christmas colors, so enjoy and I guess forget about being too analytical as I am. I must say, in some ways it echoes the nightly news these days--most upsetting.

Once again, the Brits prove that, at least in the realm of "telly", they know how to do a movie better than Americans. This series appeared in 2000, the same year that THE 10TH KINGDOM aired in the US. And it is simply a far better piece of work. Jonny Rhys-Myers is his usual, MANIC brilliance as the vicious, but somewhat sympathetic Steerpike. You can't help but root for him sometimes, given the utter ignorance and eccentricities surrounding him. Fascinating, is the fact that there is a lack of CLEAR good or evil in this, replaced by characters that can be either, given their situation. As one of the previous commentors stated, I came to GORMENGHAST through Jonathan Rhys-Myers. I loved him in VELVET GOLDMINE and TITUS, but just recently saw him in BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM. Since then, I've been gathering up all I can find to view. I'm now looking forward to owning this DVD and reading these novels. Thanks, Jonny!

This is one of the best miniseries I have ever seen. It's like Lord of the Rings, only without the Hobbits. If only they would show us the lovely face of Steerpike again...sigh... They don't make them any better in my book. The acting, the background, the lines: all brilliant!