The Barchester Chronicles (1982) was directed by David Giles. Anthony Trollope was a genius. The question was whether Director Giles was capable enough to to trust Trollope's plot, and find the actors capable of portraying Trollope's characters. Giles carried it off with skill and finesse.The movie has the usual excellent production values we have come to expect from the BBC. The fictional cathedral town of Barchester is reproduced in Peterborough. Donald Pleasence plays Rev. Septimus Harding. Harding is a kind and gentle man, but he has a backbone when that's what's needed.Donald Pleasence is often cast as a villain. Here, he is anything but a villain. His acting skills were amazing.Geraldine McEwan is outstanding in the role of Mrs. Proudie, the wife of the new bishop.This was Alan Rickman's first major role. He portrays Obadiah Slope, chaplain to the Bishop. He's sly, well spoken, clever, and unprincipled. Rickman was made for this role, and her performs it perfectly.Even if you don't like Victorian novels, this is a movie worth seeing. I highly recommend it. P.S. Angela Pleasence is the daughter of Donald Pleasence. She plays the role of his daughter in the series. It's clear that she inherited her father's acting skills.

This adaptation of Anthony Trollope's great story was made 27 years ago and this is late in the day to add a comment about it, but I had never seen this particular production and I am delighted with it and feel compelled to comment.I have tried over and over again to plow through the Barchester novels, but I usually fail after about Book 4. Not because they are boring but they are deep and not easy to visualize in a 20th century, pre-occupied American mind. I lack the advantage of a great classical education which starts readers out young with the great writers. But the advantage to this is that in middle age I am discovering wonderful "new" things, like Trollope's novels, and I will get through them.Anyway, this adaptation makes it that much easier to identify with these early 19th century people and their lifestyles. This miniseries is based upon the first two Barsetshire novels, The Warden and Barchester Towers. I believe this series is very accurate in its portrayal of the books. Inevitably bits and minor characters may be missing but this has no effect whatsoever on the impact and the spirit of the endeavor.The story is basically about the end of God in England. The radical/reforming/liberal/Puritan/journalists of the day are attacking the tenants of the Church of England, looking for abuse, corruption and scandal to destroy the traditional faith of the English people. We see now that they succeeded, but in this story, set in the mid19th century, the traditions are still beloved and upheld, and people like Tom Towers and Obadiah Slope are sent packing. .The casting is perfect. Donald Pleasence is the embodiment of Septimus Harding. I could see where the BBC might have plumped for Alec Guiness but I think made a brilliant choice in Mr Pleasence who seems to have possessed an intuitive understanding of his character.Normally I dislike Alan Rickman but he is ideal as the odious Obadiah Slope. It may have been written with him in mind. The other great performance is that of Geraldine McEwen as the monstrous Victorian gorgon, Mrs Proudie, wife and keeper of the new Bishop of Barchester, nicely played by Clive Swift, all cringing and shrinking in the face of his wife's juggernaut personality.Susan Hampshire is stellar as the Italianized Signora Madeleine Neroni. She and her siblings, Charlotte and the reprobate Bertie bring a breath of fresh Mediterranian air, and scandal, to dull old Barchester. Hampshire's one-legged damsel holds court in her salon and becomes the Deus ex machina of the community. Nigel Hawthorne and Angela Pleasence, (Donald Pleasence's real daughter) are the Arch Deacon and his wife, Susan who is also Mr Harding's eldest daughter.The production values are of the highest level and the 1980s filming and sound are excellent. It is far advanced from the more primitively filmed dramas like Upstairs/Downstairs. The script is masterly.The only minor gripe is the annoying boy choir singing the annoying 'theme' music. It's pitched too high and the poor boy sopranos sound like they're choking. It might have been a better idea to use a classic old Church of England hymn rather than have a new piece composed for the show.This is a moving, joyous filming of one of the towering masterpieces of 19th century English literature and cannot be more highly recommended for fans of the BBC dramas.

That any miniseries as exquisite as this, dating from 1982, would be long unavailable in the U.S., and then appeal only to a small audience, while American rather than British TV and cinema from all reports take the world by storm and set the standard, is cause for amazement if not alarm. Need anyone look further to sympathize with the conservatives in this story, who are wont to feel, in Mr. Arabin's words, that all virtue is disappearing in the wake of modern "progress"? On the other hand, the author Anthony Trollope's star has risen recently among critics and academics; and, even if you have yet to read him, this adaptation will at least afford you a breath of relief that something is therefore going right.As the only (and minor) negative already noted by others, the character of Arabin is underdeveloped and perhaps miscast, or at least not well conceived and made up. We can even imagine that a scene or two written to this end were dropped at the last minute to save running time. Eleanor's eventual attraction to him surprises us, along with others in the story, almost enough to have _deus ex machina_ written all over it. While we must remember that a filmmaker cannot as easily as a novelist take a detour to acquaint us with an important character entering late, a problem remains for the audience here and something should have been done to solve it.Now back to the positives. The script is full of quotable lines worthy of the IMDb database. I'll work on it. I also admire this production as a celebration of music. Several times we glimpse Mr. Harding conducting or training one of the finest choirs in the world. Although I doubt that a cathedral precentor even in the 19th century would be directly responsible for this work, it is peculiar that anyone who is, precentor or not, would be consigned to poverty: but, as we know, such is often the way of things. Mr. Harding's musicianship is nevertheless a great source of joy to himself and others. As he tells his daughter brightly when they must move to humbler quarters, "But we shall take the music with us!" We must recognize in the cast, as Miss Thorne, the daughter of a great composer: Ursula Howells's father Herbert was the dean of cathedral music for two generations, leaving us a cornucopia of liturgical repertoire radiant with a distinctively Anglican mysticism. All concerned must have regarded her part in this production as a mutual honor and privilege. Along with the closing credits rolls a setting of the Jubilate Deo (Psalm 100) almost worthy of his pen, distinguished by a wistful violoncello part evoking the roles of all our Mr. Hardings.

This was another historical series of novels, which the BBC faithfully adhered to (and they managed to run two unequally-sized volumes, "The Warden" and "Barchester Towers", together without the join showing).Donald Pleasance, normally noted for playing Bond villains, played the modest and unctuous Septimus Harding brilliantly. Nigel Hawthorne, as his son-in-law Dr. Grantly, provided the perfect combative foil. However, Alan Rickman, in one of his first major roles as the scheming Obadiah Slope, may have stolen the show. Clive Swift, as the henpecked Bishop of Barchester, established and refined the character he was later to play as the husband of Hyacinth Bouquet in "real" comedy.The location shots in cloisters give a very real impression of a withdrawn and contemplative clergy, obsessed with its own affairs and internal squabbles. The jarring note of the first two or three episodes, when John Bold questions whether a long-established tradition connected with a charitable bequest is indeed in the interests of the recipients of that charity, shows the how uneasy the various clerical characters are when dealing with the world outside.Many of the shots in scenes in a flat countryside seemingly locked into August throughout the eight episodes which covered a span of several years, also give the impression of withdrawal from the day-to-day life of any activity but that of the church.As an examination of the mores and attitudes of his period, Anthony Trollope produced a brilliant pair of novels. The BBC have produced an equally brilliant adaptation, although slow enough in pace to be almost soporific in parts.