Black Narcissus is now available to stream on Neon..
REVIEW: Those unaware of Rumer Godden’s 1939 novel, or Powell and Pressburger’s memorable 1947 cinematic adaptation, could be forgiven for thinking this is a happy tale of nuns bringing the Lord’s word to the remote Himalayas. They will be in for a shock.
Call the Midwife this ain’t. Instead,
Black Narcissus (which debuts on SoHo tonight, Monday, at 9.30pm, as well as being available to stream on Neon from January 31) is an intense and increasingly erotic psychological drama which could become habit forming over the next three weeks. While it’s unlikely to attract the same attention from America’s Catholic National Legion of Decency as the movie, which it condemned as “an affront to religion and religious life”, Danish cinematographer Charlotte Bruus Christensen’s (
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Former Bond girl Gemma Arterton (aka Sister Clodagh) recalled the experience of filming Black Narcissus succinctly. ‘We were in the middle of nowhere in the Himalayan mountains. It took us three flights and a week to get there.’
Her co-star Alessandro Nivola who, as Mr Dean brought a fatal sexual frisson into the community of nuns teetering on the cliff-edge of sanity, described it as ‘just huge enormous sky and mountains and silence’.
There is nothing quite like a good drama involving an exotic location to rekindle wanderlust and the BBC’s three-part series set in the wilds of Nepal is no exception.
In the spring of 1975, Sobhraj met Canadian medical secretary Marie-Andrée Leclerc (Jenna Coleman).
Leclerc soon became his main accomplice in many of his scams but had denied being aware of any killings.
In July 1976 in New Delhi, Sobhraj and Leclerc alongside Barbara Smith and Mary Ellen Eather tricked a group of French students into accepting them as tour guides.
Sobhraj then drugged the group, which took effect faster than anticipated and when some of the students realised what was happening to their peers, they overpowered Sobhraj and called the police.
Two years later, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison in India alongside Leclerc.
Jodie Whittaker returns as The Doctor on New Year s Day
Credit: BBC
Baby, it’s looking bleak outside - or at least it is when it comes to Christmas TV. Thanks to a certain party-pooping virus, production schedules have veered more drunkenly than an egg-nogged reindeer. And, pandemic aside, there’s been a touch of festive laziness from the terrestrial channels, an overreliance on familiar stodge.
It’s certainly no vintage year, then. But among the grim lockdown specials and hurriedly ‘regifted’ repeats, there’s some hope. From a chilling account of real-life murders which will make you never want to hear the phrase “Gap Yah” again to a sumptuous, gossipy period drama, this lot should haul you up and dust you down from any post-prandial slumps.
| UPDATED: 22:10, Tue, Dec 29, 2020
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BBC series Black Narcissus wrapped up this evening with the three-parter finishing the story in a shocking manner. The BBC and FX miniseries gave a fresh 2020 take on the classic tale of forbidden desires set against the punishing backdrop of the Himalayas. Express.co.uk looks at the main plot points from the Black Narcissus finale.