North & South

But I sure did once I got up four hours later!

I knew that I'd discovered one of the best working actors I'd ever seen.

The other reviewers will undoubtedly cover the overall excellence of the production itself, the other actors, the music, etc. I just want to wax on about this amazing man who so totally infused John Thornton with his energy and talent.

Aside from his general "swoon-ability," he never hit a misstep. Every look, line delivery, and body movement was spot on! From the first time he opened his mouth to scream, "STEPHENS!" at the top of his lungs to his soft, boyishly joyful "Coming home with me?" at the end, I simply couldn't take my eyes of him.

He's not handsome in a traditional way. At first glance, I was rather dismissive of the much-heralded "Darcy" factor. He looked autocratic, harsh featured, and snarly as he was seen through a cloud of cotton fluff surveying the workers in his cotton mill. Two or three scenes later, when he smiled, I nearly fell onto my floor in a swoon. And I am not particularly given to giddy swooning as a general rule.

Unfortunately, the BBCA cut out nearly 14 minutes from each episode, so it wasn't until I watched the region 2 DVD that I bought from amazon.co.uk, that I saw some key missing scenes which explained the story development better. And of course, included with the "goodies" is a post-production interview with RA himself. I am looking forward to the release of the region 1 DVD next week.

I think that one of the main reasons that I enjoyed RA's portrayal so much was because he really brought a fully-developed male character to life in a Victorian drama. So many times, the stories are told solely from the female aspect. The viewer is left with only the brooding exterior of the male to watch. This character of JT had such growth in his personal philosophy, his inter-personal relationships, as well as his professional dealings, and I found myself excited about sharing those growth steps with him.

By the end of Episode 4, I was torn between wanting to see some resolution between the lovebirds and wanting to stay with them on their endless search for an uninterrupted conversation with each other. But, if it had to end...WOW!!! What an ending! It was the most romantic ending I could have desired. It was so sweet and tender that I had tears in my eyes. I probably looked a loony goon sitting there grinning at my TV but I didn't care. And I still don't care each time I sit and sigh as they embrace. The light feathery kisslings [made up word] elicit sighs even though I'm working on high double digit viewings of this DVD right now!

If you loved Colin Firth as "Mr Darcy" in "Pride and Prejudice," trust me you'll be ecstatic over the amount of screen time RA has as "JT" in "N&S." And what excellent use he makes of that screen time!

RA Rulez!

diane

The actors are a fantastic ensemble, including the superb Sinead Cusack as Mrs Thornton the matriach, Daniela Denby-Ashe is the spirited and lovely heroine Margaret, and Richard Armitage who plays Mr Thornton is the most talented, brooding, smouldering, intelligent, moving and compelling leading man it has been my pleasure ever to witness.....this man was robbed of a BAFTA - he is nothing short of magnificent... ,