Faulks on Fiction starts this weekend on BBC2 and it looks like a worthwhile TV date. Sebastian Faulks says his intention is to distract attention away from novelists (rather ironic given his profile) and back to the characters in British novels. This weekend it is Heros - including Robinson Crusoe, Tom Jones, Becky Sharp and Sherlock Holmes. This is followed by episodes on The Lover (inevitably, Mr Darcy - couldn't resist the picture, Heathcliff, Tess, Lady Chatterley and others), The Snob (for example, Emma, Jeeves, James Bond, Miss Jean Brodie and Pip from Great Expectations) and finally, The Villain (including Fagin, Count Fosco from a Woman in White, Steerpike from Gormenghast, Jack from Lord of the Flies and Barbara Covett from Notes on a Scandal).
Incidentally, Robinson Crusoe is an interesting one. It was on Angus' required reading list for uni and I wondered why. On checking it out, I discovered that it is, arguably, the first of a new literary genre: the novel. It was published in 1719, went through four editions in its first year and enjoyed sustained success for years and years. I have never read it. Angus' verdict: very hard work. Anyway, I'm tempted to try to come up with a KGBG list of (fictional) British heros, lovers, snobs and villains - a sort of parlour game after a few bottles of wine - I doubt our list would include Robinson Crusoe.
The only disappointment about the Faulks series is the scheduling: the BBC obviously think that people who read books don't have a social life as a 9pm slot on a Saturday evening is perfectly ludicrous. So it will have to be one for iplayer. No "major TV series" of this type would be complete without the accompanying book!
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