Wuthering Heights

Unjustly slated on its original TV broadcast 7 years ago, this adaptation of Emily Bronte's classic Gothic romance of the Yorkshire moors has something of an Irish feel (thanks to the casting of Orla Brady as a spunky Catherine, and Robert Cavanah as a brooding and menacing Heathcliff).

This Heathcliff is not the romantic hero we saw in the Olivier-Oberon version in the 1930s; he's bitter, tiresome, grotesque, unsympathetic, and yet his great love for Cathy shines through.

Matching the novel pretty much chapter for chapter, this version does more with the last third of the book that most other attempts have - the understanding between Hareton and Catherine comes through much more strongly. It also muddies the waters slightly with respect to the conflict between Heathcliff and Hindley - although we can see why Heathcliff acts as he does, this version doesn't necessarily excuse him.

This Wuthering Heights is uncompromising, dark, and violent. This possibly contributed to its fate at the time, as the acting is largely fine (including Ken Kitson as Mr Earnshaw, Ian Shaw as Hindley, Matthew MacFadyen as Hareton, Tom Georgeson as Joseph, and Polly Hemingway as Nellie). It represents a decent attempt to get Emily Bronte's vision on film - it doesn't work, but it comes very close.