I liked this series better than the movie! I could never see Emma Thompson and Anthony Hopkins together or their romantic relationship. The superb acting of romantic attraction of Haley Atwell and Matthew Macfadyen gave the story another dimension. You could see why she wanted to marry him. The extra dimension of romantic love gave the story more meaning and understanding.

Given Queen Elizabeth the First once remarked about the amount of coloured people in London, it is safe to assume we have had black and Asian people in England for centuries. Shakespeare even wrote a play about a black king. Back in the Victorian era there was a black policeman on the beat in Carlisle in 1837.There was a magisterial film version of Howards End in 1993. This adaptation of the EM Forster novel was done by Kenneth Lonergan, fresh from his best screenplay Oscar success for Manchester by the Sea.Set in Edwardian England we see a saga of three different families in the social and class divide. The wealthy Wilcoxes, the middle class and idealistic Schlegels and the lower class Basts.I found this four part version rather slow going and flabby. It is very difficult to feel any sympathy for the selfish Wilcoxes with a couple of big houses, putting their oar in and causing misery for others especially the Basts. We never really see them doing any work for a living.Even the Schlegels, a Jewish family from Germany who might be liberal idealists, they end up being comfortably off with Margaret marrying Henry Wilcox despite them having little romantic chemistry.It is a shame about Leonard Bast, he always ends up with the brown end of the stick as others tell him what is best for him and then wish to give him a thrashing to the inch of his life.I expected something better from Lonergan, something more waspish with a contemporary sting.

Matthew McFayden and Hayley Atwell just lit up the screen... I thought perhaps the glory days of BBC Sunday night costume dramas had past, but their performances here were wonderful, the control and command of the dialogue was exquisite. A delight.I have given 9 out of 10, so I will note that a few minor quibbles: - Some of the plot elements were a bit clunky - It wasn't always clear how much time had elapsed or how much the characters had aged - It felt a little stretched out to episodes

Jacky Bast as an African women, racially mixed marriages in Edwardian England? I don't think so, especially since no one so much as raises an eyebrow. Not to mention the Schlegel's family doctor as an Indian man and the Schlegel's housemaid as an African women? Domestic servants in Edwardian England were white. Many scenes with carefully placed non-Europeans. This is supposed to take place in Edwardian England, not modern day London. Tibby Schlegel's un-Forsterian rant, comparing Henry Wilcox to Joseph Conrad's Kurtz in Heart of Darkness is ridiculous, if not subversive. I cringe to think of what's coming next, so I'll stop watching. It's so consciously politically correct that it distracts from the actual E.M. Forster story. The Schlegel women's strong, resolute personalities however are an important part of E.M. Forster's story. This is not E.M. Forster's though, it's a dishonest representation of Howards End and Edwardian England. For the real thing watch Merchant Ivory's beautiful and respectful 1992 film adaption of E.M. Forster's Howards End.