Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Bertie Carvel, Eddie Marsan, Marc Warren, Charlotte Riley, Alice Englert, Samuel West, Enzo Cilenti, Paul Kaye, Edward Hogg, Brian Pettifer, Ariyon Bakare, Vincent Franklin, John Heffernan, Richard Durden, Robbie O’ Neil, John Sessions, Clive Mantle, Lucinda Dryzek, Ronan Vibart.

For all the other channels and subscriber based ways of watching television, for all the smoke and mirrors of television programmes being played out endlessly and arguably without diligence and care for the viewers intelligence, when the B.B.C. gets something completely right it normally becomes the best thing to have been seen in the comfort of your armchair all year and in Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell such worthy praise and lofted heights is needed.

It feels so rare to be able to watch a television series across several weeks and be totally engrossed by the subject matter and the acting of an entire cast, in Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell though, the B.B.C. found a gem which lived up to the book by Susanna Clarke and surprisingly for a television adaptation, took it beyond the bounds and confines of the reader’s imagination to a place in which so much possibility was reached for and attained with tremendous, passionate, belief.

The story of magic, of two men fighting over the rites and rights over bringing English magic back to the lands might not have found an audience even ten years ago, but thanks to programmes such as Game Of Thrones and films such as The Hobbit, the interest in such things, of Britain’s Pagan past and the stories in which scepticism is rife and unworthy have allowed a certain new breed of story-telling to come through, one that allows for great characterisation and a plot and dialogue that never sinks to the low common denominator that seems to be prevalent in many programmes; both from home and across the water in America.

For too long Eddie Marsan has been neglected, almost looked over by television as a leading artist on a show, unless he has been cast as odd balls or thinkers of a different breed, his enormous talent has gone seriously unnoticed by the greater viewing public and the leading role in The Best of Men and his excellent performance in an otherwise unforgettable Walking The Dogs have only confirmed that. Somehow though this wonderful actor has plugged away and the richness he brings to the screen is a joy. Surrounded by a genuinely pleasing cast, including the enormously talented Bertie Carvel as Jonathan Strange, who surely has put in a visual application to take on the role of The Doctor when the great Peter Capaldi steps down in the long and far off future, the ever erudite and impossible to ignore Marc Warren as The Gentleman and Paul Kaye as Vinculus, the tale of the lost art of old magic, of rivalry, deceit, power and love is a welcome addition to the annals of great television, such is the drama that Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell inspires.

It is a pleasure when something of note comes to television and is not dumbed-down to appease advertising schedules; a programme that really grinds its teeth and bares its well-pumped muscles at the prospect of entertaining and enlightening its audience, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell delivers on every count.

Ian D. Hall