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BBC Radio 7, 28 November 2009
This period romance appeared to have everything going for it - skeletons
in the cupboard, a love-affair with more ebbs and flows than a choppy sea, a dashing knight and a crippled damsel, all set
against the backdrop of the English Civil War of the early seventeenth century. The cast tried their best - Roger Allam's
rich voice wrapped itself round Du Maurier's words, contrasting nearly with his spouse Honor's (Kathryn Harrison's) more meek
and mild tones, which actually concealed a very tough character. However, in spite of their efforts, I failed to be aroused
by Cherry Cookson's production. There was perhaps too much plot-development for my liking, and, for all the author's efforts
to spice up her narrative, I couldn't help feeling that this kind of thing had been done much better many years ago in The
Wicked Lady - even if the film did require Margaret Lockwood to show rather more of her cleavage than was deemed acceptable
at that time (especially to American audiences).
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