Vanity Fair

I've wanted to see this version for years , having been a Hampshire fan since watching the original broadcast of The First Churchills ; I was not in the least disappointed . Now even at three hours and thirty-eight minutes some parsing was necessary for such a long novel , but this was done so carefully that nothing is lost in the basic flow and essence of the book and the most important scenes receive all the time and attention to detail they deserve . An important but easily overlooked element is the lack of a running musical score , allowing the cast to shine without distraction ; this was standard BBC practice for dramatizations of classics during the 1960s and '70s . This especially adds pathos to the superbly detailed scenes pertaining to the Waterloo Campaign , in marked contrast to the inappropriate use in the the same scenes of an awful score created for the very well acted 1998 version . Nothing superfluous detracts in any way from this masterpiece : If you enjoyed the novel , you will enjoy this performance . I can hardly say enough for Susan Hampshire's portrayal of Becky Sharp throughout .