"He Knew He Was Right" (2004) TV mini-series

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Tom Vaughan

Writers:

Andrew Davies (screenplay)
Anthony Trollope (novel)

Release Date:

18 April 2004 (UK)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Marriage Proposal | Period Piece | Alps | Letter | Suitor

Cast

Oliver Dimsdale	...	Louis Trevelyan
Laura Fraser	...	Emily Trevelyan
Anna Massey	...	Miss Stanbury
Bill Nighy	...	Colonel Osborne
Geoffrey Palmer	...	Sir Marmaduke Rowley
Christina Cole	...	Nora Rowley
Geraldine James	...	Lady Rowley
Jane Lapotaire	...	Lady Milborough
Raymond Coulthard	...	Mr. Glascock
Maggie Ollerenshaw	...	Martha
Stephen Campbell Moore	...	Hugh Stanbury
Caroline Martin	...	Dorothy Stanbury
Amy Marston	...	Priscilla Stanbury
Joanna David	...	Mrs. Stanbury
Barbara Flynn	...	Mrs. French

Runtime:

240 min (4 parts)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Filming Locations:

Gran Sasso, Abruzzo, Italy

Company:

BBC Wales

Ranks with the better Victorian soaps

"He Knew He Was Right" is a 4x55 minute TV miniseries adaptation which is very much like the usual Victorian melodrama fare from such notables at the Brontes and Austen. The backbone of the story is about a young man of property who marries and then becomes obsessively jealous of attentions paid his wife by her Godfather. Crisscrossing the main plot are several subplots involving the societal clockworks of middle and upper class Victorian society with all the usual scheming for peerage and property, premarital posturing, courtship and affairs of the heart, and busybody bickering among the staid and stuffy pomp of the times. Although "He Knew He Was Right" has a darkish central theme, it never takes itself too seriously and manages a very subtle and wry sense of humor as it cavorts among the many characters with charm, wit, grace, and beauty. A worthwhile watch for anyone into Victorian melodrama. (B)