2.2 The Barchester Chronicles

The second episode of this new series of their podcast sees Andy
and Martin visit sleepy Barsetshire and the quiet cathedral town of
Barchester, where ecclesiastical and romantic intrigue is going to
set tongues wagging and cassocks whirling. This 1982 adaptation of
two of Anthony Trollope’s beloved Barsetshire series, The Warden
and Barchester Towers, entitled The Barchester Chronicles boasts
memorable performances from Alan Rickman as the slimy Obadiah
Slope, Geraldine McEwan as the controlling Mrs Proudie, and Nigel
Hawthorne as the overbearing Archdeacon Grantly. The plot concerns
a newspaper’s crusade against the Church of England’s practice of
self-enrichment which targets the unassuming and harmless Mr
Harding (Donald Pleasance). But this battle is as nothing to the
threat that Is later posed when a new Bishop (Clive Swift) is
appointed, a weak man who is in the merciless grip of his
domineering wife, Mts Proudie, and his chaplain Obadiah Slope.
Slope does not only have his eyes set on ecclesiastical grandeur
but also the hand of Signorna Madeleine Neroni (Susan Hampshire)
until, that is, he discovers that Harding’s daughter Eleanor (Janet
Maw) may be a better bet. The cast list also includes Barbara
Flynn, Cyril Luckham, Denis Carey, Ursula Howells, John Ringham and
Phyllidda Law and the series is adapted by Alan Plater whose
Beiderbecke trilogy and Miss Marple: A Murder is Announced we
celebrated during our first run. Neither Andy, nor Martin expect to
enjoy the series that much, but they are to be pleasantly surprised
by this adaptation which is regarded by Trollope fans to be a
faithful and worthy version of two of his most celebrated novels.