Desperate Romantics

This BBC drama series on the Pre-Raphaelites concentrates on three major artists - Millais, Hunt and Rossetti, and uses a fourth member of the Brotherhood, critic Fred Stephens, as narrator and fall guy. On the whole the drama works well, with a humorous edge designed to illustrate the somewhat chaotic circumstances of the artists' lives. The character of the artists is well differentiated; perhaps understandably, there is not much about the differences in their art. In fact the series concentrates on personal lives rather than art. Plenty is seen of their various women, both literally and in terms of screen time, and those who are averse to lusty sex scenes will need to fast forward sometimes. The stand-out performances are perhaps Tom Hollander as the art critic Ruskin, and Amy Manson as the tragically ill-used Lizzie Siddal. The period settings are well done.