This new TV adaption of the story of Anne Frank produced by BBC is what I had been looking forward to for a long time. However, after watching all of the five episodes this week, I felt a bit disappointed.As a big fan of Anne Frank all the time, certainly I have read her affecting diary that nearly everybody in the world knows about, as well as the memoir written by the attic-helper Miep Gies and the biography written by Melissa Muller. Besides this new BBC version, I also had watched three videos of her story before: one is a film and the other two are made for TV. The film adaption was made in 1959 by Americans, which is the first work about Anne on screen. Though I don't like this film at all since the cast and the set are far away from the truth in history, it still hold the value and importance for its first attempt of adapting her story. The second is a TV adaption made in 1988 by US, and compared to the film adaption, this one stepped forward quite much in any aspect. For the reason that it was mainly based on the memoir "Anne Frank Remembered" written by Miep Gies, this little-known TV adaption only adopted the view of Miep Gies and thus overlooked most of the details in the attic as well as the content of Anne's diary. The third one "Anne Frank: The Whole Story" is still a TV adaption made by Americans in 2001, despite the fact that most of the characters are from Britain. This is the only adaption I am totally satisfied with and I can't help to watch it over and over again. It is based on the biography of Anne Frank written by Melissa Muller and covers the whole life of our little Heroin including her joyful life before hiding, the hard days in the secrete attic and the tragic last period in the concentration camp. I have to say the cast and set of this adaption are so appropriate and exact that it is just as authentic as the history. The plot is intense, compelling and heart-warming, thereby making you feel like that you were trapped in the attic too and could be caught at any time.This new BBC adaption, however, is more like an English soap than a serious historical drama. Anyway, the little star Ellie Kendrick looks very witty and enchanting, but some of rest characters are quite boring especially her mother who looks just like suffering from the mental disease. Moreover, Mrs. Petronella Van Daan, her lips are always as red as cherry, and her untimely humor is extremely annoying and unnecessary. Even the Sergeant in the last episode looks so kind and so English that we can't think him as a Nazi devil. On the whole, this diary based adaption gets some improper humor and the act of some roles are a bit exaggerated in my opinion. It seems like they were threatening themselves deliberately rather than revealing the fear in their own heart naturally.

There can't be many people who haven't heard of the story of Anne Frank. The 13 year old girl from a Jewish family who, to avoid evacuation from Holland by the Nazis, hid with her family in the rooms above her fathers business for 2 years before being caught. The diary she kept during this period was published after the war and has since been translated into a number of languages and has become the most widely read piece of non-fiction apart from the Bible.The rights to the story are rarely available and it's pleasing that this new production transmitted on the BBC over five half-hour episodes on consecutive nights is a great example of quality, thought provoking and moving television that should be enjoyed by all.Ellie Kendrick stars as Anne, the teenage daughter of Otto (Iain Glen) and Edith Frank (Tamsin Greig). In her diaries Anne comes across as a precocious teenager, sometimes impertinent and always with something to say regardless of other peoples feelings and Ellie Kendrick's performance captures this perfectly. She is a teenager after all and we get to know all her growing pains through her diary entries. Iain Glen is the solid and almost perfect father and is amiably assisted by Tamsin Grieg as a quiet and dependable mother. The supporting cast including Lesley Sharp, Ron Cook and Geoff Bretton as the Van Daans are all exceptional, particularly Lesley Sharp whose performance as the selfish and head strong Petronella was always entertaining. The production values were first rate and the recreation of the rooms where the families lived really made you appreciated how claustrophobic, stressful, and monotonous their daily lives must have been. As the series concludes and you get more and more attached to these characters the sudden discovery of the secret annex by the police is well handled and very emotional.A very strong series that is never preachy or over-dramatic and which I hope is transmitted in as many countries as possible. Highly enjoyable and recommended.

such an emotional story, acting was superb!the best BBC production in years. They have definitely out done them self this time. This is a must see video/series. If you are into history you MUST WATCH IT! Ellie Kendrick was amazing! so was Tamsin Greig. I always loved to see her in black books, but this performance was just amazing. It still made me go out buy buy all three series again!well done everybody involved.as soon as it is available to buy i will buy it. and so should you.truly inspirational.

First-class. Soap-length and almost soap-like, the great strength of this series is it's day-to-day realism. Free of invented sentiment or the sobriety of guilt or hindsight, writer Deborah Moggach and director Jon Jones work something believable and vital out of Anne Frank's eponymous journal. Rather than watch one finds oneself living through the action with its absurd pettiness and meagre (but treasured) consolations, with familiar tensions and thrills in circumstances not only unfamiliar but inconceivable.The cast are as high-calibre an ensemble as one could imagine. Impossible to identify favourites, I found the women most memorable. Ellie Kendrick is an ideal Anne, conjuring all the highs and lows of a girl forced to experience a compressed adolescence but leaving something terrifyingly real for the inevitable climax. Leslie Sharp and Tamsin Grieg play perigee and apogee of the Jewish hausfrau, pantomime dame and ashen-faced mouse: their Parthian ability to charm or bite can turn the experience of an episode inside out.Everything about this project seems to have worked - the perfect episode length, carefully-pitched drama of the highest calibre and broadcast at a time when everyone can absorb and, yes, even enjoy it. Highly recommended. 8/10