There’s not a great deal of British sci-fi or fantasy on offer these days, so Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is a show I think many have been hoping will fill that gap in the market. Like Poldark, which I previewed earlier this year, it’s a novel I haven’t yet read so I’m not able to say how close it sticks to the source material. The man responsible for bringing it to our screens, Executive Producer and Director Toby Haynes (Doctor Who, Sherlock), is a huge fan of the book however and has been looking forward to adapting it for quite some time.
Our story starts in 1806, when Napoleon was wreaking havoc across Europe, which has the British government in a to-do. Far away from the hubbub of the capital, the members of The York Society of Magicians know how to behave like gentlemen. This involves meeting once a month for a slap up meal, a few bottles of the finest wine, some networking with the local businessmen, and of course lectures on the history of magic. Under no circumstances is there to be any actual magical demonstrations though. That would be preposterous, because as everyone knows magic simply does not exist any more.
Jonathan Strange (Bertie Carvel) is the polar opposite of the shy and modest Norrell. You’d be more likely to find him in the tavern reflecting on life at the bottom of a tankard than in a library studying a dusty old book. Carvel describes the titular characters as “two sides of a coin: in many ways they could not be more different, and yet they are bound together.” In this first episode there are several hints of their complex and entwined future, although they have yet to meet each other in person.
Aside from the two leads, the three characters that I feel stand out are Norrell’s loyal servant, Childermass (Enzo Cilenti), who at times appears to be his master’s boss. While Paul Kaye plays Vinculus, a vulgar street magician who seems to know more than he should for someone of his bearing. Then there is The Gentleman with Thistledown Hair (Marc Warren), a faerie conjured by Norrell to do his bidding. It’s no secret that I enjoyed Warren as Rochefort in The Musketeers this year, but it looks like he could very well top that performance with this role if the first two episodes are anything to go by. He is simply superb as the unstable yet charming creature that brokers a deal for the future Mrs Pole’s life.
The Friends of English Magic airs on Sunday 17th of May at 9pm on BBC One and BBC One HD, below are a few dialogue teasers to see you through until then. If you want to have a go at guessing who said what, I will fill in any correct answers before it airs. Don’t forget to come back and vote in our poll after the episode and let us know what you thought.
“I drew these cards myself, there’s only one king in the pack”
“He told me a secret for nothing. He told me that magic would be restored to England by two magicians”
“The subject, as you term her, is dead. What worse fate can befall her?”
“Is that supposed to be me? With a beard, and a pointy hat?”
“You don’t make it sound very appealing, choose someone else”
“I have offered my services to the country, they have been declined. I shall return to Yorkshire”
“I hope that he achieves recognition and will use his powers for the good of the nation in this time of war”
“She does not know that you, like your mother, are weak and skittish, and doomed to fulfil no function more useful than that of a clotheshorse”
“I have a book sir, a book you won’t find in your library or any other. It’s written by the Raven King, and it tells me all about you”
“I rather think my master has hidden his talent long enough, it’s time for him to take his place”
