James Walton

Sumptuous and very promising: A Suitable Boy reviewed

Plus: I wish we could see the reaction of Tony Blair and George Bush to the gut-wrenching testimony in BBC2's Once Upon a Time in Iraq

Maan (Ishaan Khatter) and Saeeda Bai (Tabu) in BBC One’s A Suitable Boy. Image Credit: BBC / Lookout Point / Taha Ahmad 
issue 01 August 2020

Nobody could argue that Andrew Davies isn’t up for a challenge. He’d also surely be a shoo-in for Monty Python’s Summarise Proust competition. After turning both War and Peace and Les Misérables into satisfying, unhurried six-part drama series, he’s now taken on Vikram Seth’s 1,300-page novel A Suitable Boy.

The first episode started with a wedding that immediately established the programme’s visual sumptuousness, while also serving as a handy introduction to the main characters.

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