''Vanity Fair'' is a

BBC television drama BBC television dramas have been produced and broadcast since even before the public service company had an officially established television broadcasting network in the United Kingdom. As with any major broadcast network, drama forms an importa ...

serial

adaptation In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the po ...

William Makepeace Thackeray William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel ''Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and t ...

's 1848 novel of the same name broadcast in 1998. The screenplay was written by Andrew Davies. The BBC had adapted the novel as a serial three times previously, in 1956, in 1967 and in 1987.

Plot summary

For a full-length summary of the book see: ''Vanity Fair'' plot summary.

Cast

Natasha Little Natasha Emma Little (born 2 October 1969) is an English actress. She is best known for her roles as Edith Thompson in the film '' Another Life'', Lady Caroline Langbourne in the BBC miniseries ''The Night Manager'', and Christina Moxam in the B ...

Becky Sharp Rebecca "Becky" Sharp, later describing herself as Rebecca, Lady Crawley, is the main protagonist of William Makepeace Thackeray's 1847–48 novel '' Vanity Fair''. She is presented as a cynical social climber who uses her charms to fascinate a ...

* Frances Grey as Amelia Sedley * David Ross as Mr. Sedley *

Philip Glenister Philip Haywood Glenister (born 10 February 1963) is an English actor. He is best known for his role as DCI Gene Hunt in the BBC series '' Life on Mars'' (2006–2007) and its sequel '' Ashes to Ashes'' (2008–2010). He also played DCI Willia ...

as William Dobbin *

Michele Dotrice Michele Dotrice (born 27 September 1948) is an English actress. She portrayed Betty Spencer, the long-suffering wife of Frank Spencer, portrayed by Michael Crawford, in the BBC sitcom ''Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'', which ran from 1973 to 1978, ...

as Mrs. Sedley *

Janine Duvitski Janine Duvitski (born Christine Janine Drzewicki; 28 June 1952) is a British actress, known for her roles in the BBC television sitcom series '' Waiting for God'', ''One Foot in the Grave'' and ''Benidorm''. Duvitski first came to national atte ...

as Mrs. Bute Crawley *

Anton Lesser Anton Lesser (born 14 February 1952) is an English actor. He is well known for his roles as Qyburn in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones'', as Thomas More in ''Wolf Hall'', as Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in ''The Crown'', as Prime Minister ...

as Mr. Pitt Crawley *

Nathaniel Parker Nathaniel Parker (born 18 May 1962) is an English stage and screen actor best known for playing the lead in the BBC crime drama series '' The Inspector Lynley Mysteries'', and Agravaine de Bois in the fourth series of ''Merlin''. Early life N ...

as Rawdon Crawley *

Jeremy Swift Jeremy Paul Swift (born 27 June 1960) is an English actor. He studied drama at Guildford School of Acting from 1978 to 1981 and worked almost exclusively in theatre throughout the 1980s, working with companies such as Deborah Warner's Kick The ...

as Jos Sedley *

Tom Ward Tom Ward (born 11 January 1971) is a British film, stage and television actor. Early life Tom Ward was born in Swansea, Wales, the son of poet and academic John Powell Ward, and Sarah Ward OBE, a farmer. Ward was sent to the Dragon School i ...

as George Osborne * Stephen Frost as Bute Crawley *

Tim Woodward Timothy Oliver Woodward (born 24 April 1953) is an English actor. Tim Woodward was born in Kensington, London, England, the son of actors Edward Woodward and Venetia Barrett. He was educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College. He is pr ...

as Mr. John Osborne * Janet Dale as Miss Briggs *

Frances Tomelty Frances Tomelty (born 6 October 1948) is a Northern Irish actress whose numerous television credits include ''Strangers'' (1978–1979), '' Testament of Youth'' (1979), ''Inspector Morse'' (1988), ''Cracker'' (1993), '' The Amazing Mrs Pritchard ...

as Mrs. O'Dowd * Mark Lambert as Major O'Dowd * David Bradley as Sir Pitt Crawley *

John Surman John Douglas Surman (born 30 August 1944) is an English jazz saxophone, bass clarinet, and synthesizer player, and composer of free jazz and modal jazz, often using themes from folk music. He has composed and performed music for dance performanc ...

as Horrocks *

Miriam Margolyes Miriam ( he, מִרְיָם ''Mīryām'', lit. 'Rebellion') is described in the Hebrew Bible as the daughter of Amram and Jochebed, and the older sister of Moses and Aaron. She was a prophetess and first appears in the Book of Exodus. The ...

as Miss Crawley * Daniel Hart as Ensign Stubble *

Abigail Thaw Abigail J. Thaw (born 1 October 1965) is an English actress. Early life Abigail Thaw was born in London to actor John Thaw and his first wife, Sally Alexander, an academic/feminist activist who taught modern history at Goldsmiths College. He ...

as Jane Osborne *

Bryan Pringle Bryan Pringle (19 January 1935 – 15 May 2002) was an English character actor who appeared for several decades in television, film and theatre productions. Life and career Born in Glascote, Tamworth, Staffordshire, he was brought up in the L ...

as Raggles *

Linal Haft Linal Haft (born 23 March 1945 in Leeds) is an English actor, best known for playing controlling or manipulative characters in both film and television, most notably his role as businessman Harry Gold in the popular BBC soap opera ''EastEnder ...

as Moss *

Eleanor Bron Eleanor Bron (born 14 March 1938) is an English stage, film and television actress, and an author. Her film roles include Ahme in the Beatles musical '' Help!'' (1965), the Doctor in '' Alfie'' (1966), Margaret Spencer in '' Bedazzled'' (1967), ...

as Lady Bareacres * Sarah Crowden as Lady Blanche *

Graham Crowden Clement Graham Crowden (30 November 1922 – 19 October 2010) was a Scottish actor. He was best known for his many appearances in television comedy dramas and films, often playing eccentric "offbeat" scientist, teacher and doctor characters. Ea ...

as Lord Bareacres *

Sylvestra Le Touzel Sylvestra Le Touzel (born 1958) is a British television, film and stage actor. She was born and raised in Kensington, London, to a prominent family from Saint Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands. She attended school in East Acton. Television Begi ...

as Lady Jane Crawley * Gerard Murphy as Lord Steyne * Robert Cole as Little Rawdon * Zohren Weiss as Little Georgey

Awards

''Winner'': *1999: '' Television and Radio Industries Club Awards'' - BBC Programme of the Year *1999: ''Banff Television Festival'' - Special Jury Prize *1999: ''Biarritz International Festival of Audiovisual Programming'' - Best TV Series and Serials, Best Actress (

), Screenplay ''Nominated'': *1999: ''

British Academy of Film and Television Arts British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

'' - Best Drama Serial, Best Actress, Best Costume Design, Best Editing, Best Original Music, Best Photography

References

External links

Review
- ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''
Review
- BBC * * 1990s British drama television series BBC television dramas Television shows based on British novels Television shows written by Andrew Davies Films based on Vanity Fair (novel) 1998 British television series debuts 1998 British television series endings Cultural depictions of George IV English-language television shows {{UK-tv-prog-stub