If you missed the first episode catch it quick on iPlayer - really clever, original, well made TV.

It was a bit harrowing.

Lenny Henry was brilliant (close ups on his eyes - fantastic acting); I loved the naughty but playful July snipping the pearl buttons off her horrid Mistresses dress.

JK2006 wrote:
Lenny Henry was brilliant (close ups on his eyes - fantastic acting); I loved the naughty but playful July snipping the pearl buttons off her horrid Mistresses dress.

I didnt recognise him for a bit.
How on earth did nobody find out he could act for such a long time? He is quite brilliant.

Sarah Williams - the writer. BAFTA winner.

It's the funny bits I adore; the accidentally loud clinking of cutlery; the water over the head; and brilliant cutaways.

Half way through; absolutely loving everything about it.

The BBC Gem for this Christmas I think.

I'm very confused - why didn't I recognise this story? A Booker shortlisted in 2010 - I must have read it. Andrea Levy - excellent Imagine on it.

JK2006 wrote:
I'm very confused - why didn't I recognise this story? A Booker shortlisted in 2010 - I must have read it. Andrea Levy - excellent Imagine on it.

It must have been a bit crap if you completely forgot it.
Great series though.

Great director too; likewise I think a BAFTA for Lenny. I suspect the fault was mine; not the book's.

Alan Yentob's best in ages. Fascinating story.

Definite triumph; superb TV.

RIP Andrea Levy - only 62 - so young.

She said in the Yentob documentary that she writes not to change things but to open up minds. There was one poignant moment while being guided through some old documents she became aware for the first time that July could have been her great great grandmother and that one of her descendants included a slave owner. I'm certain that such relevations can bring immense peace.

Something else she said in the Yentob documentary hit me strongly that I jotted it down:

"Britain didn't send her psychopaths out to the Caribbean...It made them in the Caribbean because the system was so brutal and inhuman".

I saw part of the Long Song and wished I'd seen the whole thing. It was excellent. Also interesting to see a drama set in the 1830s from the point of view of the costumes, especially the white woman. There seem to be certain periods you don't often see in films, e.g. 17th century, perhaps because of the predominance of historical dramas based on works by Austen, Dickens and the Brontes.