The BBC's splendid 1984 adaptation of HG Wells' scientific thriller bears favourable comparison to James Whale's 1933 classic movie, similarly nailing both the book's gripping and occasionally comical tone and the sense of clammy madness seeping from the pores of megalomaniac researcher Griffin.
The remote locale in which the invisible and increasingly unstable Griffin attempts to hide is perfectly chosen and marvellously photographed and Pip Donaghy gives a thoroughly convincing performance, swaying between annoyance at the prying villagers and bursts of alarming mania during which he contemplates a reign of terror achieved via random murder and extortion.
The Beeb always does its period pieces well and here squeezes some excellent production values from the budget; even the special effects still look good, largely through being achieved in subtle and unshowy ways.
The remote locale in which the invisible and increasingly unstable Griffin attempts to hide is perfectly chosen and marvellously photographed and Pip Donaghy gives a thoroughly convincing performance, swaying between annoyance at the prying villagers and bursts of alarming mania during which he contemplates a reign of terror achieved via random murder and extortion.
The Beeb always does its period pieces well and here squeezes some excellent production values from the budget; even the special effects still look good, largely through being achieved in subtle and unshowy ways.