The period drama comes to an end as Christopher continues to serve in the trenches, Sylvia hatches even more plans to try and get him back and Valentine continues to wait for him to return, picking up a sex education via early (considerably better written) prototypes of Fifty Shades of Grey.
Though featuring artillery bombardments, the Parade's End finale wasn't so much an explosive revelation as a slow meander towards the conclusion we all knew was coming (though in my case, not necessarily the one I wanted). Christopher (Benedict Cumberbatch) remains in the trenches, facing strafes and slightly deranged officers continuing a sonnet competition and wandering round without appropriate headgear. Sylvia (Rebecca Hall), now returned from France, continues to prepare for Christopher's life to be a misery when he gets back whilst also ending her five-year man-drought with a quick tumble in the bedsheets with former flame Gerald Drake (Jack Huston). Valentine meanwhile is at last given something to do after she discovers a sexually explicit book owned by one of her students, leading to her very own sexual awakening and the decision that she will 'ruin herself' with Christopher when he gets back. Oo-er.
There has been a battle right from the beginning of the series embodied in Christopher, the tension between tradition and modernity, the old and the new. Cumberbatch's stiff upper lip performance has been one of the main draws throughout the series and continues here, demonstrating Tietjens' discomfort with the world with every eyebrow raise and mouth twitch. Attempting to cling gallantly to the past, Christopher's efforts have been focused throughout on maintaining the status quo that everything else has threatened to destroy. This is no more apparent than in the wonderful scene in which he has tea and sandwiches served to him on a tray whilst sitting in a trench at the front. The Hun may be firing on him from all sides but goddammit it's time for afternoon tea!
It's the kind of attitude Sylvia has exhibited throughout as well though with considerably less restraint than Christopher. Everything must continue as it always had done, though of course, it didn't work out this way. Hall has been the standout performance in the previous episodes but here, with the focus more on Christopher and Valentine's eventual union, Sylvia is sidelined a little in the overall plot. That didn't mean she faded from view however; her last ditch effort to fake an illness to draw Christopher back in was both comical and slightly tragic, as was her venomous destruction of the tree at Groby. She's been advocating that particular form of arboreal revenge for a while and the hacking down of the tree was the last straw for Christopher. She also gets one of the best lines in the entire series, referring to Valentine as 'that scrub-faced ladies champion of the regular bowel movement'. Just fantastic and the final scene in which Christopher conveys in a look just how committed he is to Valentine was electrifying between Cumberbatch and Hall, demonstrating the chemistry that has made them such a compelling couple.
Narratively, Christopher was always going to leave Sylvia for Valentine but I'm still a little disappointed with that conclusion. Adelaide Clemens gave terrific performances in the first couple of episodes in which she had something to do and was more about being a rebellious suffragette than swooning after Christopher. Against Hall's towering performance, Clemens faded and Sylvia became the more compelling character, making me want to see her get Christopher after all. I don't necessarily think it was Clemens' fault; she was simply outgunned by both Hall and the writing that she was given. Valentine was meant to represent the pure versus Sylvia's corruption and sadly, that was all she ever was.
It's the only thing that occurs to me to be slightly negative about because the final scenes of the series were a fitting end for all of the characters we had got to know over the course of four episodes. Sylvia managed to manoeuvre herself as the future wife to the possible Viceroy of India through the newly promoted General Campion (Roger Allam). Allam has been one of the best supporting actors, mastering the look of bemusement that caused one of the episode's big laughs after Sylvia's unexpected marriage proposal. Christopher learned to let go of the past too, burning the log leftover from the Groby tree as a symbol of the beginning of his new life as both a singing war veteran and lover of Valentine.
Parade's End has been in a different class right from its first episode; unashamedly literary and scripted with a wit and sophistication that is rarely seen in dramas of any kind at the moment. I'm going to call it now and say it will be heavily nominated when it comes to award season and well-deserved it would be too. Fridays nights are going to be poorer for its absence.
- Becky
You can read Becky's review of Episode Four here.
Follow Becky on Twitter @beckygracelea
Or follow her blog on beckygracelea.wordpress.com
The penultimate episode of the BBC adaptation of Parade's End finds Christopher (Benedict Cumberbatch) back on the front, leaving behind an anxious Valentine (Adelaide Clemens) whilst Sylvia (Rebecca Hall) makes her own plan to follow her husband to France.
Christopher has been helped to a safer position in the army training other soldiers thanks to brother Mark (Rupert Everett) and, despite General Campion (Roger Allam) finding him to be a nuisance, is doing rather well at it. Meanwhile back in London, Valentine anxiously awaits news of her would-be beau whilst continuing her job as a gym mistress. Elsewhere, Sylvia decides that now is absolutely the best time to go and visit Christopher in France and arrives in Rouen before anyone has the chance to do anything about it. There, she and Christopher attempt some sort of reconciliation but are interrupted before anything can truly be done.
After last week's slight dip, Parade's End was back on form in its fourth episode, providing more comedy and tragedy than you could shake a bayonet at. While the series has never been particularly sombre or po-faced, laugh-out-loud moments weren't exactly forthcoming outside of Rufus Sewell's appearances. In this episode however, the comedy is extremely well-pitched, though often erring on the side of black, and each time comes layered with a sense of poignancy that further highlights the drama of the characters' situations. In particular, the scene between Christopher and Patrick Kennedy's equally strung out McKechnie trying to outdo each other intellectually through sonnets and Latin was both very funny and deeply sad.
Another standout scene was the meeting between Christopher and Sylvia in the hotel, their first face-to-face conversation in a considerably long time. To use a technical term, both actors knocked it out of the park with Hall's monologue in particular adding a deep sadness to the pair's unsuccessful marriage. Just as it seems the pair are reconciling (with a spectacular grab-and-kiss move from Cumberbatch that no doubt resulted in a sudden outbreak of swooning), the poignant scene was replaced by a farcical confrontation between Christopher and Sylvia's former squeeze, Potty Perowne (Tom Mison) and a drunken superior officer. Had it not been handled with such skill, the transition from tragedy to farce could have been jarring and distracting, but fortunately it only enhanced what the previous scene had been demonstrating; Sylvia and Christopher just aren't meant to be together.
The focus on the central marriage means that some of the characters are found wanting in the wider episode arc. Most notable is Valentine, Christopher's not-yet mistress, who continues the pining and erstwhile glancing out of windows to fill the quota for this week's episode. I don't think it's necessarily Clemens' fault; she's not given much to work with narrative wise, other than thinking longingly about Christopher. As I've not read the books, I'm unaware of whether the much-touted union between Valentine and Christopher will ever actually happen, but Clemens' fading performance in contrast with Hall's towering screen presence is making me think I'd actually like Sylvia to get her man.
This week's episode is, to my mind, the best so far in a series that has been mostly consistent in its high standard. Blending comedy with drama is not always an easy balance to strike but this episode manages it well and is all the better for it. It's also easily the most action-packed instalment so far with more focus on Christopher's life in the army and his unfortunate scuffle with Potty.
And please, will someone just give Rebecca Hall an award already?
- Becky
You can read Becky's review of Parade's End - Episode Three here.
Follow Becky on Twitter @beckygracelea
Or follow her blog at beckygracelea.wordpress.com
If you hadn't already guessed, we at Assorted Buffery are suckers for period dramas. Or indeed any dramas come to think of it. But mostly those where you have beautiful people swanning about in beautiful clothes and talking in beautiful accents. Now the BBC, ever the purveyors of such drama, have adapted Ford Madox Ford's quartet of novels, Parade's End, starring Rebecca Hall, newcomer Adelaide Clemens and Assorted Buffery favourite, Benedict Cumberbatch.
Parade's End follows the turbulent marriage of Christopher Tietjens (Cumberbatch) to socialite and general mischief-maker Sylvia (Hall) and his subsequent relationship with a young suffragette, Valentine (Clemens). The central marriage is more one of convenience as Tietjens tries to shed his past as a bit of a cad and Sylvia wants to avoid scandal after falling pregnant, though a particularly energetic train carriage encounter suggests there is an attraction between them. It's a beautiful study of a relationship destined to corrupt both parties and enough repression to fuel English stereotypes for years to come. With director Susannah White helming the production and the ever-brilliant Tom Stoppard adapting the novel with a witty and polished script, the first episode of Parade's End was an intriguing, funny and thought-provoking hour.
Aside from the excellent direction and crisp script-writing, the programme's strength lies in its cast; Benedict Cumberbatch is everyone's man of the hour, from literature geeks to sci-fi nerds (he's appearing in Star Trek 2 as the as-yet unnamed foe - come on Gary Mitchell). Here, he masters the stuffiness inherent in Tietjens' logical character and giving him a wit and intelligence that makes him a masterful screen presence. Not particularly loquacious, it's left to Cumberbatch to convey Tietjens' inner conflict with a look, or cursory glance to the side and the moment with the horse was about as close to a breakdown as we're likely to get.
Providing the emotional foil to Cumberbatch's stiff upper lip, Rebecca Hall is a whirlwind of wit, lace and the occasional nipple, perfectly capturing the mercurial Sylvia. Providing much of the comedy, Hall's Sylvia is just as conflicted as Tietjens though without even an ounce of the freedom that he possesses. As we're reminded by the ever-present suffragette movement and Sylvia and Tietjens' own protestations, divorce was not kind to women, nor was wider society. Despite knowing her conduct is less than acceptable, she continues to live how she wants, manipulating whoever she needs to. Ending a relationship at gunpoint isn't for everyone, but Sylvia does it with a smile.
The supporting cast were every bit as good, with seemingly every character actor you could think of drafted in to present a very British period drama. Though not given much to do just yet, newcomer Adelaide Clemens managed to hold her own in scenes with Cumberbatch, giving Valentine a spirited yet rather naive quality. Stephen Graham, playing an intelligent good guy in a role wildly against type, gave good Scotsman and his relationship with Anne Marie Duff's character was very sweet. Elsewhere, Roger Allam cropped up as an indignant military man and Miranda Richardson as a slightly unhinged novelist and both shone with Rupert Everett and Janet McTeer providing a biting relish to their roles.
The first episode was not without a couple of flaws though, particularly in the rather speedy introduction to our main couple. Fast-forwarding through the opening developments of their relationship, it took a while for me to work out exactly where everyone was up to in each scene. However, once we had the anticipated meeting between Tietjens and the elf-like Valentine, everything settled down. We even got the most bonkers cameo ever seen on television (I'd wager that anyway) in the form of Rufus Sewell's buggery-obsessed and more than a little unhinged vicar. It was a glorious moment, perfectly highlighting Edwardian politeness whilst simultaneously revelling in Sewell's wide-eyed performance. Having not read the books, I don't know if his character is set to reappear, but I really hope so.
Much has been made of the potential rivalry between Parade's End and its ITV counterpart, Downton Abbey, with some saying that the BBC were simply trying to get one up on ITV after the disaster that was Upstairs Downstairs. Now, I love Downton Abbey (something you'll probably find out when it's back on television) but high literary drama it is not. In fact, if we're all honest with ourselves, Downton Abbey is to period drama what Coronation Street is to urban realism; the signs and comparisons are there, but it's too ridiculous to be taken seriously. Parade's End, by contrast, is a real thoroughbred period piece, betraying its literary foundations in every line and pregnant pause.
This summer has been a fantastic time for period dramas; with the fantastic Hollow Crown and now Parade's End, my yearly quota for corsets and riding breeches is already on the full side but when it's as good as this, I can stand a little more.
- Becky
You can follow Becky on Twitter @beckygracelea or find more work on her blog at www.beckygracelea.wordpress.com
