There is nothing to praise in this smug and faithless adaptation of the novels. The series includes episodes that did not occur between Mapp and Lucia, muddled others and overplayed episodes. The subtlety of the novels is lost. The characters became hideous pastiches and there was no chemistry. I could believe in none of the characters. Mapp was turned into a vicious monster, Major Flint into a leering dipsomaniac, Diva into a silly shrill woman and the list just goes on. Even more disappointing was the lack of any sense of motivation or depth to the characters, in particular I felt there was no chemistry between Georgie and Lucia. The epitome of the failure of this adaptation was when staff at an hotel were seen to be speculating about Georgie's homosexuality and toupee. This treated the audience as idiots, as if this had to be spelled out. The novels never included direct reference to sex and that is part of their very humour. Steve Pemberton who wrote the screenplay and played Georgie claims to be a fan of the novels, but he should hang his head in shame if this is this is how he honours the novels in a television adaptation.
Review of Mapp & Lucia
