Gormenghast

As other reviewers have noted, this series is absolutely true to the high camp, grand operatic nature of Mervyn Peake's novels, with the same assets and flaws: a bold and imaginative concept, wittily and attractively embellished, but somewhat underproofed and underbaked. That's all right, especially as it's carried along by bravura performances by Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Ian Richardson, Celia Imrie, Christopher Lee, and Stephen Fry.

I read Mervyn Peake's novels as a boy, and just reread them this summer (the centenary year of the author's birth). They're truly unique, and at its best Peake's writing is close to miraculous, able to capture sensations and states of mind I would never have imagined another human being had experienced, much less found ways to set down in words.

Visually stunning about a fictional world with good and evil not easily defined within the context of the story. Unique in storytelling, this makes for difficult-to-define protagonists/antagonists.

I have been enthralled by Peake and the Groan trilogy since the 1960s. When Gormenghast came up in conversation recently I decided to watch this BBC series again after twelve years, to refresh my memory of it and see how it held up.

I love the BBC series dearly but there's more to be done, let's see Peter Jackson do this in a 3 movie trilogy and well they'd be hard up to match this one in acting and all but I'd see all three on opening day and I love the books and series but the world is waiting or am I mad?? The aging of the characters is a flaw due to budget restraints.

OK, OK, I admit I enjoyed it! Now, that's out of the way.

I'm normally a lover of British fantasy (Harry Potter, Doctor Who, etc.), so I've been interested in checking out Gormenghast ever since it was first released.

Should this come on TV again, or if you happen to come across the DVD, I strongly urge you to watch it. This mini series is possibly the best made-for-TV production in decades.

I read some Mervyn Peake years ago, so I know a little of his penchant for the bizarre and his love of language. I was ready to like Gormenghast, which I had not read before.