Room at the Top, BBC Four | reviews, news & interviews
Room at the Top, BBC Four
Room at the Top, BBC Four
Sexual intercourse did not begin in 1963: John Braine's postwar novel is re-adapted
Thursday, 07 April 2011
Sex and the single male: Matthew McNulty as Joe Lampton in 'Room at the Top'
Another week, another northern novel about working-class libidos adapted for BBC Four. One is still catching one’s breath from the festival of copulation that was Women in Love. Spool forward a few decades - or a week in television scheduling terms - and roughly the same set of characters have reconvened for the next instalment of how's your father in Room at the Top. They’ve got the same accents, the same set of preoccupations about class, and the same tendency to rummage around among one another’s nethers. For a certain cadre of English novelist, sexual intercourse most definitely did not begin in 1963.
Another week, another northern novel about working-class libidos adapted for BBC Four. One is still catching one’s breath from the festival of copulation that was Women in Love. Spool forward a few decades - or a week in television scheduling terms - and roughly the same set of characters have reconvened for the next instalment of how's your father in Room at the Top. They’ve got the same accents, the same set of preoccupations about class, and the same tendency to rummage around among one another’s nethers. For a certain cadre of English novelist, sexual intercourse most definitely did not begin in 1963.
Share this article
Add comment
Subscribe to theartsdesk.com
Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.
To take a subscription now simply click here.
And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?
more TV
The Perfect Couple, Netflix review - an inconvenient death ruins lavish Nantucket wedding
Liev Schreiber steals the show in adaptation of Elin Hilderbrand's novel
Sambre: Anatomy of a Crime, BBC Four review - satisfying novelistic retelling of a French true crime saga
Compelling story of a rapist who hid in plain sight for 30 years
Kaos, Netflix review - playing fast and profuse with the Greek myths
A rainbow of acting talent, but too many ideas thrown into the labyrinth
Slow Horses, Season 4, Apple TV+ review - Gary Oldman returns as the 'gross and inappropriate' Jackson Lamb
Latest instalment of the Slough House saga exerts a vice-like grip
theartsdesk Q&A: David Morrissey on (among other things) the return of 'Sherwood' and 'Daddy Issues'
Liverpool-born actor reflects on a journey from Everyman Theatre to film and TV stardom
Sherwood, Series 2, BBC One review - maybe time isn't such a great healer
Gripping continuation of James Graham's Nottinghamshire saga
Freddie Flintoff: Field of Dreams on Tour, BBC One review - a passage to India with the Preston irregulars
Cricket helps Fred overcome near-death experience
The Instigators, Apple TV+ review - Matt Damon and Casey Affleck are back on the Beantown beat
Doug Liman's black-comedy thriller is lifted by its high-octane cast
Stevie Van Zandt: Disciple, Sky Documentaries review - the New Jersey rocker with many strings to his bow
Bill Teck's film reveals that Van Zandt wasn't just Bruce Springsteen's right-hand man
Time Bandits, Apple TV+ review - larky expanded rerun of the Gilliam/Palin classic
Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement give children's sci-fi a human touch
Lady in the Lake, Apple TV+ review - a multi-layered Baltimore murder mystery
Natalie Portman stars in screen adaptation of Laura Lippman's novel
The Jetty, BBC One review - lowlife in a Northern town
Jenna Coleman stars in a dark tale of abuse and exploitation
Comments
...