by Anne Bronte
Dramatised in four parts by Christopher Fry
Starring Janet Munro
The arrival of a young woman and her son at Wildfell Hall, accompanied by only one servant, causes much speculation in the village.
(Repeated on Thursday at 10.20 p.m.)
See page 5
(Colour)
Tonight on BBC-2 The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
A new classic serial - a dramatisation of Anne Bronte's powerful novel - begins this evening at 8.15
Anne was the youngest of the Bronte sisters, and perhaps the least known. But like Charlotte and Emily she too found an outlet in writing and created, out of an isolated and sheltered life, a novel of remarkable power and intensity. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is set, like Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, against the dark and brooding background of the Yorkshire Moors, and passion, violence, adultery, and drunkenness all play a part in Helen Graham's story.
Janet Munro who plays the part of Helen is full of admiration for her. 'She was unbelievably brave to act as she did - to do something about the state she found herself in, instead of sitting back like so many Victorian women. I was surprised by the tremendous insight Anne Bronte had into her heroine's character.' It is the first major appearance Janet Munro has made for about six years. After a series of starring roles in feature films, she abandoned her career to bring up her family. Now she's just about to start rehearsals for a new West End play.
Huntingdon, Lawrence, and Gilbert, the three men who enact important, if sometimes mysterious, roles in Helen's story, are played by Corin Redgrave, William Gaunt, and Bryan Marshall.
Christopher Fry has dramatised The Tenant of Wildfell Hall for TV, the first time he has undertaken such an enterprise. He is a great champion of the novel, and the suggestion that it should be included among the BBC classic serials was his. 'I think it has been wrongly neglected and underrated compared with the other Brontes' work. It is a fine novel and there are some really delightful and unexpected snatches of humour in it.' (Gay Search)
