''Vanity Fair'' is a BBC television drama 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 p ...

William Makepeace Thackeray William Makepeace Thackeray ( ; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was an English novelist and illustrator. He is known for his Satire, satirical works, particularly his 1847–1848 novel ''Vanity Fair (novel), Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portra ...

'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 as

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 ...

* 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 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 William Bell ...

as William Dobbin *

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

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 a British actor. He is known for his roles as Qyburn in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones'', Harold Macmillan in ''The Crown'', Clement Attlee in '' A United Kingdom'', Chief Superintendent Bright in '' E ...

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 List of Merlin characters#Agravaine de Bois, Agravaine de Bois in the ...

as Rawdon Crawley * Jeremy Swift as Jos Sedley *

Tom Ward Tom Ward (born 11 January 1971) is a Welsh-born British film, stage, and television actor. He is best known for playing Dr. Harry Cunningham in the long-running BBC crime drama series, ''Silent Witness'' from 2002 to 2012. Early life Ward was b ...

as George Osborne *

Stephen Frost Stephen Frederick Eustace Frost (born 28 December 1955) is an English actor and comedian, best known for his work on ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' as well as several projects with comedy partner Mark Arden. Early life Frost was born in Redr ...

as Bute Crawley * Tim Woodward 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 Pritchar ...

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, Clarinet family, 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 danc ...

as Horrocks *

Miriam Margolyes Miriam Margolyes ( ; born 18 May 1941) is a British and Australian actress. Known for her work as a character actor across film, television, and stage, she received the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Mrs. Mingott in Marti ...

as Miss Crawley * Daniel Hart as Ensign Stubble * Abigail Thaw as Jane Osborne *

Bryan Pringle Bryan Pringle (19 January 1935 – 15 May 2003) was an English character actor who appeared for several decades in television, film and theatre productions. Life and career Born in Sheffield, Yorkshire, he was brought up in the Lancashire town ...

as Raggles * Linal Haft 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) an ...

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 scientist, teacher and doctor characters. Early life C ...

as Lord Bareacres * Sylvestra Le Touzel as Lady Jane Crawley * Gerard Murphy as Lord Steyne * Robert Cole as Little Rawdon * Zohren Weiss as Little Georgey * Jean-Benoit Blanc as Hussar

Awards

Won: *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 ( Natasha Little), Screenplay Nominated: *1999:

British Academy Television Awards The BAFTA TV Awards, or British Academy Television Awards, are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. They have been awarded annually since 1955. Background The first-ever Awards, given in ...

- Best Drama Serial, Best Actress, Best Costume Design, Best Editing, Best Original Music, Best Photography *1999:

Royal Television Society Programme Awards The Royal Television Society Programme Awards, (often referred to as the RTS Awards) seek to recognise programmes or individuals who have made a positive and material contribution to their genre: either because their content or originality in for ...

- Actor: Female (Natasha Little) *1999: Royal Television Society Craft & Design Awards - Music - Original Score (

Murray Gold Murray Jonathan Gold (born 28 February 1969) is an English composer for stage, film, and television and a dramatist for both theatre and radio. He is best known as the musical director and composer of the music for ''Doctor Who'' from 2005–201 ...

)

References

External links

Review
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New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

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BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

* * 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 British English-language television shows {{UK-tv-prog-stub