Changes

The characterisation is superb even if some of the attitudes seem rather strange in the twenty-first century. Who can forget the almost too honourable but rather naive Septimus Harding, the titular warden? Lily Dale from ''The Small House at Allington'' is too constant to the lover who let her down. When the Rev Josiah Crawley is accused of theft his daughter feels that she cannot hope to marry until such time as her father's name is cleared for fear of bringing shame to the family of the man she loves. Mrs Proudie, the bishop's wife, is a thread which runs through the books and she's a monster- and you find them in any period of history.

The cast includes Anna Massey, Alex Jennings, David Haig, Rosemary Leach, Kenneth Cranham, Emma Fielding and Brenda Blethyn. I have heard Brenda Blethyn described as ''annoying'' in the series but I didn't find this to be the case.