Novelist Anthony Trollope doesn't have the name recognition of his Victorian contemporary Charles Dickens, but he has all of Dickens's strengths and more--invigorating plots, eccentric characters bursting with life, and an insightful, panoramic view of English society.
He Knew He Was Right starts with an idyllic romance between the well-off Louis Trevelyan (Oliver Dimsdale) and Emily Rowley (Laura Fraser). But when the rakish Col. Osborne (Bill Nighy,
Love Actually) begins to visit her regularly, Louis becomes jealous--and the pressures of Victorian society soon turn this jealousy into an all-consuming possession that could destroy the lives of Louis, Emily, and their young son. This dark and harrowing story is deftly juxtaposed with two related tales: A blithely flirtatious clergyman finds himself fought over by a pair of squabbling sisters and a young woman struggles to find happiness despite the controlling grip of her miserly spinster aunt (the always superb Anna Massey,
Angels & Insects,
The Importance of Being Earnest).
The cast delivers wonderfully comic or heartbreaking performances, but much of this four-episode series' power comes from yet another outstanding adaptation by screenwriter Andrew Davies, who wrote the scripts for such BBC miniseries as Moll Flanders, Vanity Fair, and the hugely popular version of Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth. The combination of Davies and Trollope results in a work of psychological depth, sly humor, and sheer storytelling mastery--just when you've decided someone is virtuous or odious, that character upends your judgment with an act unexpected yet completely plausible. He Knew He Was Right provides the pleasures of a thriller, a social satire, and a whirling romance. --Bret Fetzer
