The Long Song

Adapted from a fictional novel about the before, during and after the abolition of slavery.

This lengthy saga was very successfully realised in this BBC drama. You sensed the author had conglomerated several lives to raise situations and issues that would sustain a long novel.

This sense of expanse played well and there was fine acting throughout. This was great Sunday night viewing and with the entertainment we learnt a great deal about some difficult truths about sugar production.

Other critics have touched on the shortcomings of this production. I have only seen the first episode but find the series to be engaging and atmospheric. I don't think July's trickster ways were uncommon for enslaved people. She becomes a lady's maid under painful circumstances. There's an act or two that are somewhat comic. Then comes the cruelty and violence that are certainly omnipresent in the lives of the enslaved. Nevertheless, the first episode ends on an intriguing note. I am here for the rest of this program, and feel viewers of Masterpiece will not be disappointed. Historically accurate? It might fall short, but so does Downton Abbey and there are no complaints. Allow yourself to enter July's world for a spell and let's find out what she does next.

I think this production is trying to rewrite history. Slaves calling "Overseers" husband and then in return them saying they are "In love," or calling a slave girl his"wife " Is sugar coating scenarios that were nothing but rape! The Overseer asking the slave to sit down at the table with his white wife unbelievable and the only one who was truthful was the wife when she screamed "No!"Someone needs to get their history books out or just watch "Roots." Having slaves smiling as the overseer disrespects their wives and them by having sex with them the night before his marriage is insulting. Having slaves smirk at another as one hops in the front seat of the overseer cart is ridiculous because we all know what part of a buggy a slave would be in. Trying to rewrite history to make slavery more humane will not work. You are pulling the wool over no one's eyes.

Period dramas are extremely common in the UK. There are gritty adaptations to more romanticize tales. The Long Song's is told from a slave's perspective. And the series succeeds on this point. Most audiences, even a British one, are more aware of America's experience of abolishing slavery. The Long Song shows what happens in the Caribbean - it was a time where slaves were rebelling more frequently, making it more dangerous for slave owners.

The series shows that slavery ended for two reasons in the British Empire. The slaves were rebelling and becoming harder to control.There was also a moral campaign in Britain to abolish slavery. The wit that goes along with the heroine's hardships makes this a surprisingly funny but dark look at the end of slavery in Jamaica.

Miss July (Tamara Lawrance) has known nothing except life on a sugar plantation in Jamaica. Taken from her mother at seven years old because Caroline (Hayley Atwell) took a fancy to her as a house slave, July fetches and carries for her mistress, endures her frequent temper tantrums. Tamara Lawrance is wonderful as Miss July.

Despite the heavy subject matter The Long Song was also fairly humorous. Most of this was concentration on Hayley Atwell's character. Caroline is shown to be spoiled and child-like who becomes irate when she doesn't get her way. The character was similar to Queen Anne in The Favourite - a mentally unstable woman in a position of power. The humor helps prevents the series from being too heavy.

The series had cinematic quality even though it was set in the confines of the plantation. The show was shot on location and like any costume drama the production values were of the highest order. There were great looking costumes, scenery, and cinematography. The slave rebellion and Richard's war with the workers added to cinematic quality because of the scale of the scenes and chaos that was happening.

The Long Song was an excellent mini-series that looked at a fascinating period of history and gives audiences an alternative perspective.

At times frustrating. At times infuriating. At times scary. At all times, incredibly breathtaking. You'll never guess the ending. The story isn't so hard to conceive, but the characters, some a caricature of what they could be, at times, so deep that you are amazed at how much could come from just three episodes. I wanted so much more to know about the characters that were off-screen and perhaps that's the point. It's told first-person but other characters who were taken out of the story and had their own to tell could probably fill volumes. The ending left me wanting to know what happened next.

It's not a long investment to watch the three episodes in this series. You won't regret the time spent.