Thames TV stepped in quickly, filming the three linked Alan Ayckbourne plays months after they opened in the West End with only Penelope Keith retaining her stage role of Sarah. The stage version, of course, contained of the four leads of The Good Life in Keith plus Paul Eddington and Felicity Kendal with the fourth member, Richard Briers, appearing in this TV adaptation. Alas, Tom Conti is no Tom Courtenay but makes a half decent fist of Norman whilst Penelope Keith nailed Sarah on stage and merely replicates her performance on screen. David Troughton does what he can as Tom, the world-class dork, a role played to perfection on stage by Michael Gambon and given that anyone would be an improvement on Felicity Tate & Lyle Kendal it's fair to say that Penelope Wilton is a decent Annie, and in a touch of the old nepotism Herbert Wise casts his wife Fiona Walker as Ruth, who has, as it were, the last lay; anything Bryan Forbes can do ... Like Saturday theatregoers in 1977 the NFT yesterday gave filmgoers a chance to see all three plays, Table Manners, Round and Round The Garden, and Living Together, in one marathon viewing and on the whole Ayckbourne's observations of life in the Shires stand up well albeit Wise is no Alain Resnais.
Review of The Norman Conquests
