The Small Pleasures Of Things Done Well

I can't honestly say that I watch very much on Channel 5 but a happy exception to this fact has materialised. All Creatures Great and Small in its original televisual form was that unusual thing - a very good adaptation of the source novels. Now Channel 5 have dared to have a new go at the texts. They have nailed it. Samuel West is particularly good as the irascible but noble Siegried Farnon, good enough to make us forget the estimable Robert Hardy whom one would otherwise have thought had made the role wholly his own. I recommend watching it after tea on a Sunday evening accompanied by a smooth Italian red. A thing done well.

Another thing done well is Renee Zellweger's portrayal of the tragic Judy Garland in Judy. Well enough done to have won her an Oscar - no argument here. The text (expanded from a stage play) concentrates largely on Garland's last year of life and in particular her residency at London's Talk of the Town. She died in London in 1969, relatively impoversished and at the age of only forty-seven. The film takes a commendably low-key approach to this sad tale of a great talent brought to its knees. 71/100.