The Wind in the Willows

I seem to have spent rather a lot of time in front of the haunted fishtank yesterday. As well as Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures (see previous entry), I also watched the Beeb’s new adaptation of The Wind in the Willows.

 

On the whole, I thought this was pretty successful. It seemed to capture the atmosphere of the book pretty well, and the main characters were played by good actors. I particularly liked Mark Gatliss’ Ratty. And while I’ve never liked the one-note samba that is Little Britain, I thought that Matt Lucas did a good job with Toad.

 

But one thing jarred. I admit that I haven’t read the book for nigh on fifty years, but I don’t think that the Piper at the Gates of Dawn chapter came across as well as my memory serves. I’m pretty sure that part of the awe of seeing the god Pan is that he seems gigantic to Ratty and Mole; but in the TV adaptation he’s just a boy with shaggy trousers larking about in a tree. Sometimes the power of imagination is greater than the art (and budget) of the filmmaker…