The Mill on the Floss (mini)

Based on her own childhood, George Eliot's The Mill on the Floss gets the deluxe treatment in this eight-part BBC miniseries. Set in 19th century Lincolnshire, the story centers on Maggie Tulliver (Georgia Slowe). Headstrong and undisciplined, she loves her brother Tom (Jonathan Scott-Taylor), but he has his doubts about her. Frankly, he finds his sister exasperating. An uptight, ambitious young man, Tom can't understand why she won't act like a proper young lady. While he's off at boarding school, for instance, she forgets to feed his rabbits and they die. Well-mannered cousin Lucy Deane (Moira Durbridge) is a mutual friend and peacemaker between the two. Over the years, Phillip Wakem (Anton Lesser), another neighbor, will also enter their orbit. Alas, Mr. Tulliver (Ray Smith) and Lawyer Wakem (Philip Locke) are sworn enemies. More studious than her brother (now played by Christopher Blake), teenaged Maggie (Pippa Guard) is drawn to the bright, if hunchbacked Phillip, but her ardor doesn't run as deep as his. Either way, Tom doesn't approve--nor, as it turns out, does Mr. Wakem. Further, as the fortunes of the latter rise, the Tullivers fall so far they lose their mill. But all is not lost. Tom will keep the family afloat when he finds employment with Lucy's father, Uncle Deane (John Stratton), around the same time Lucy's suitor, Stephen Guest (John Moulder-Brown), switches his focus to Maggie. Just when it seems relations couldn't get more tangled, the mill itself provides a neat, if tragic solution. Previously brought to the BBC in 1965 with Jane Asher, this fine, if somewhat stagy production was followed by a 1997 telefilm with Emily Watson. --Kathleen C. Fennessy