The Pursuit of Love, episode 2 review: a huge improvement, but Andrew Scott still steals the show
4/5
Lily James s pursuit took in two marriages and a rapid swing from capitalism to communism – but very little happiness
16 May 2021 • 10:00pm
In the club: Lily James s performance came into its own in the second episode of The Pursuit of Love
Credit: BBC
The second episode of
The Pursuit of Love (BBC One) was a big improvement on the first, mostly because Lily James is much better at being sad than being funny. As Linda Radlett – the mesmeric, exasperating star of Nancy Mitford’s tragi-comic satire of interwar English aristocracy – she displays a passionate artistic commitment to breathless, unvarying chirpiness, which deflated the otherwise excellent first hour of Emily Mortimer’s new adaptation. But her obvious fakeness became instantly less irritating when obviously fake, which it was throughout this middle episode, in which Linda wafted her way miserably throug
BBC s The Pursuit Of Love scattered with endless faults and disjointed storyline Mirror 2 hrs ago Ian Hyland
I never thought I’d be thanking Marc Bolan for rescuing my Sunday night viewing. But that’s what happened last weekend.
I was dangerously close to hitting the urgent exit required button on BBC1’s latest period drama, when Fleabag’s hot priest Andrew Scott burst onto the screen dancing to T. Rex’s overlooked classic Dandy In The Underworld.
The ensuing two minutes or so of sumptuous TV did just enough to persuade me to overlook The Pursuit Of Love’s faults, of which there were many.
Daily Times
May 12, 2021 For some reason – but never lack of urging by friends – I have not read any Nancy Mitford, including her most famous novel The Pursuit of Love, a perennial bestseller since its publication in 1945.
I have absorbed the basics, of course, through cultural osmosis. I know she’s one of the communist rather than fascist ones, and the one that gave us the distinction between “U” and “non-U” terms. And that The Pursuit of Love is the one that introduces us to the madcap world of the Radlett family at Alconleigh. The children with their secret society called the Hons. The foreigner-hating paterfamilias Uncle Matthew, who hunts said children with his bloodhounds across the Oxford countryside. The Bolter – also known as the mother of narrator Fanny, a Radlett cousin – committed to a vibrant life of serial monogamy since abandoning her only child to be raised by her sister Emily. The excoriation of female education for the loss of social graces tha
Listen to every song from the Pursuit of Love soundtrack
Your complete guide to the BBC drama s glam-rock soundtrack, from T. Rex to New Order
Dancing queen: Lily James as Linda in The Pursuit of Love
Credit: BBC
For decades now, period TV dramas and films have used modern soundtracks to give themselves a contemporary edge and command viewer attention. The latest example is The Pursuit of Love, Emily Mortimer’s adaptation of Nancy Mitford’s novel that has just launched on the BBC. In using music that is deliberately at odds with the period being depicted, Mortimer is hoping to lend universality to her themes.
Lily James dazzled viewers with her portrayal of Linda Radlett in Sunday night s first episode of The Pursuit Of Love.
And the show s racy tone was soon set as the opening scene, which gave viewers a glimpse of the future, saw Lily sunbathing naked and pregnant before a bomb fell on her London home.
The actress, 32, was also seen stripping naked to frolic in the bath with her co-star Emily Beecham, who plays her cousin and pal Fanny, with their conversation soon turning a little raunchy.
New role: Lily James dazzled viewers with her portrayal of Linda Radlett in Sunday night s first episode of The Pursuit Of Love, with the show s racy tone soon being set