The BBC made a big thing of trailing this show, so I thought it was reasonable to expect something a bit special. The book is one of my favourites, must have read it 10+ times, once or twice back-to-back. I suppose knowing the story so well I expected most or all of the detail and complexity to show up on screen. But it didn't. Some of the BBC's contractions were just crass and diminished the impact and importance of the event in the storyline. Still, the cast was pretty good...potentially. But not even a fine actor like Eddie Marsan could make a fist of Gilbert Norrell with the limitations of the role imposed. The Gentleman, Stephen Black, John Uskglass, Vinculus, Lascelles, Drawlight...all missed opportunities. Well, Bertie Carvel was a reasonably good Jonathan Strange and Arabella (Charlotte Riley) was very watchable for any number of reasons. So I will still stick to the book for my doses of English Magic, at least until somebody has a go at making it properly on-screen.
Review of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
