First viewed : 24 September 1981
This was a four-part adaptation of Michael Sadleir's novel which had been filmed with James Mason back in 1944. Although often thought of as a Victorian novel, it was actually published in 1940 and looks back to a time when courtly romance and the utmost depravity existed side by side.
Fanny ( Chloe Salaman ) lives comfortably with her mother and stepfather Hopwood ( that man Stephen Yardley again ) who runs a gentleman's club which is a front for prostitution including children. He makes the mistake of evicting the dissolute aristocrat Lord Manderstoke ( Michael Culver ) who avenges the insult by blowing the whistle on the club and ruining the family. Fanny finds work as a maid and companion and meets a genuine gentleman in Harry Somerford ( Peter Woodward ). However her friend Lucy ( Julia Chambers ) brings Manderstoke back into her orbit with tragic consequences. The final word from Fanny, spoken at a funeral is "Nothing".
It was a good-looking series with a splendidly malevolent performance by Culver as the villain. It went out on Thursday evenings after the Nine O Clock News although, for all the seedy backdrop, I can't remember it having any sex scenes as such . It was repeated once , two years later and as far as I know isn't available on DVD.
Chloe Salaman, neice of Alec Guinness, seemed set for a strong career - in the same year she had a good part in Winston Churchill - The Wilderness Years and appeared in the film Dragonslayer - but it didn't work out that way and her appearances have been sporadic since then.
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