TV/Film Adaptations Of Books

Before I begin, I'm just going to say that nothing beats reading the original book, but there are some genuinely good adaptations out there. There are also some which are so horrifically bad that they should never have been made (The Dark Is Rising and The Golden Compass, I'm looking at you...). Others are just 'okay' and these are best viewed as separate entitities to the books they were based on. Done well, films and TV series can bring new life to a book and even a new audience. There have occasionally been things I've watched on TV and only afterwards, read the books. However, you do sometimes have to be careful, as the book can be quite different. The most obvious case of this is Gregory Maguire's 'Wicked'. I watched the stage show and then read the book it's based on - it is somewhat different to say the least! (For those not in the know, the book is WAY darker and definitely not for children - the bestiality orgy is not something I would want my 9yo reading about!)

Nevertheless, there are some I constantly go back to because I love them so much - each of the series here I have seen multiple times and think they do a pretty good job of capturing the essence of the books on which they are based, even where they are quite different in tone or plot changes have been made. This is, of course, only my personal opinion and I know there are people who absolute hate them, but speaking for myself, I like them all!

Greenwood's Phryne Fisher series is the perfect example of an instance of me seeing the adaptation first. I adored the TV series, so was excited when I found out it was based on a set of books. However, I was warned that book Phryne and TV Phryne were quite different creatures. I love them equally but differently. In the TV show, I was desperate for Jack and Phryne to get together. In the books, Jack is happily married to someone else, but this doesn't matter in the slightest. The essence of the stories is the same throughout both media and it is simply a matter of viewing them as two incarnations of the same creature. Both are fabulous in their own right and I highly recommend both!

Like with Phryne, I came to the book after watching the TV series. A Discovery of Witches was a rare series that both my husband and I enjoyed, so when I learnt there was a whole series of books, I started reading them as soon as we'd finished season 1 on the TV. I was so desperate to know what was going to happen that I had to read the rest of the series before the TV ones came out. When they did, I wasn't disappointed. As with the book, I enjoyed the second one less than the other two, but all are very much worth reading.

Yet another example of the TV sort of coming first, is the immensely popular Bridgerton. I watched the first series, fell in love with it, then read the entire book series over the course of a couple of weeks. Again, the series is very different to the books, but like with Phryne Fisher, I try to keep the books and the TV show separate in my head. So far, I've not had a massive problem with any of the changes they have made. There are one or two I am reserving judgement on though, as they fundamentally change the plot, so I'm hoping my faith in Netflix is justified and there is a good reason why they have made those changes. The books are actually raunchier than they TV show if you can believe it!

This is quite a controversial choice, as online, there appears to be a definite split between those who think the films did justice to the book (particiularly if, like us, you watch the extended editions) and those who shout about the absolute travesty of introducing characters into scenes they had no business being in. In our house, however, we love them. Myself and the eldest have read the whole trilogy and the youngest has listened to it on audiobook. We have also read or listened to some of the other Middle Earth books and have found nothing in the films to take away from our enjoyment of them. The same cannot be said for The Hobbit though...

The Poirot books are my favourite of Agatha Christie's many novels and it's an absolute joy to watch David Suchet bring him to life on the small screen. Film adaptations are fun - but they're not Poirot. I can accept Albert Finney, Peter Ustinov and Kenneth Branagh as Poirot (although I have to view Halloween Party as a non-Poirot film because it bears no resemblance to the book whatsoever), but for me, the little Belgian detective with the big brain cells, is and always will be, David Suchet. I cannot picture him any other way. I love all of his outings as Poirot (except Curtain, but that's because I don't like the story) but I think my favourite of all of them is The Plymouth Express, as it co-stars Julian Wadham, who is one of my favourite actors.

I hadn't read any Elizabeth Gaskell before seeing this adaptation of it. If I'm being perfectly honest, the main draw was Richard Armitage. He captured the brooding John Thornton so perfectly in the trailers for the programme that I knew it was something I had to watch. I had't expected to love it quite as much as I did and the only thing that upsets me about it, is that it was Gaskell's last book and consequently was left unfinished at her death. However, the team behind the BBC adaptation did a fantastic job in ending the story and that scene on the train station is one I happily watch over and over again - I think it is up there as one of the most romantic moments ever shown on television and I can feel my heart thudding every time as the camera draws in closer and John realises Margaret loves him.

Last but not least, it's my all-time favourite adpatation. Regular readers will know how much I love the 1995 Pride and Prejudice. This was my introduction to Austen and it couldn't have been a better one. Jennifer Ehle, Colin Firth and Adrian Lukis could not have been better cast and the length of the series means that much of the book's narrative is faithfully reproduced. Where slight changes have been made (Austen makes no mention of a dripping wet Mr Darcy emerging from his lake with a see through shirt clinging to him!) I have no complaints about them. I don't know a single woman my age (and many who are younger) who don't describe this as a seminal moment in their appreciation of classic literature.