This period drama was based on a book banned for over 30 years
The story focused on a passionate love affair (Image: BBC)
A steamy period drama that will set viewers’ pulses racing is available for streaming now, following audience acclaim for one production branded “wonderful” and another celebrated as the “alternative Austen”, reports the Mirror.
The BBC adaptation represents just one of numerous versions of a novel that faced prohibition due to the moral standards of its era.
Nevertheless, this particular interpretation has garnered widespread praise from viewers for successfully embodying the essence of the original work.
One perfect 10/10 review on IMDb declared: “A truly masterful performance for all involved. I did not even know this existed until recently and I sat to watch it in one sitting.”
Another viewer commended the programme’s visual appeal in their assessment: “An excellent work of art in a long and expertly made movie. Being almost totally visual, I must admit I’m carried away by visually beautiful movies, and this one is tops.”
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A third reviewer entitled their critique: “A beautiful, complicated love story I enjoyed” and elaborated: “This movie was very enjoyable as well as instructive.
“It was enjoyable because it was so faithful to the most popular version of the story and instructive about how people conducted their lives after WW1 in England.”
Lady Chatterley emerged in 1993, and chronicled the intense romance between an aristocratic woman, Constance Chatterley (portrayed by Joely Richardson) and her working-class gamekeeper, Oliver Mellors (Sean Bean). Constance and Mellors initially had an arrangement whereby she would become pregnant and claim the child belonged to her injured Great War veteran husband Sir Clifford Chatterley’s (James Wilby).
Nevertheless, the pact rapidly dissolved into genuine emotions between Constance and Mellors, with their liaison representing both a sexual and spiritual awakening for her.
The programme has garnered acclaim for its portrayal of the novel and particularly for leading man Bean.
One viewer remarked on IMDb: “This is the definitive Lady Chatterley’s Lover” and observed: “After having seen all the film adaptations of Lady Chatterley’s Lover 1981 onwards, in my opinion none of them can hold a candle to (this) Ken Russell’s version. It has beauty, poetry, squalor and vision.”
Sean Bean starred in the romantic period drama (Image: BBC)
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Another audience member encouraged viewers to watch Lady Chatterley for Bean and declared the series “belongs” to him, “who gets his teeth in and doesn’t let go”.
Someone else commented: “Sean Bean Amazes Yet Again” and elaborated: “I have followed his career since seeing the Sharpe’s episodes and in everything he is in, he takes the part and makes it his own. A simply wonderful effort and a beautifully touching love story.”
The four-part drama was adapted from D. H.
Lawrence’s 1928 novel Lady Chatterley’s Lover, which faced prohibition in the UK, America, Australia, India, Japan, and other nations for obscenity. It was only in 1960, following the outcome of the British obscenity trial R v Penguin Books Ltd, that UK readers were finally able to get their hands on the novel.
Joely Richardson and Sean Bean starred in the classic period drama (Image: BBC)
As expected, the book quickly became a bestseller after its long period of censorship.
The novel had previously been banned in Britain as it was considered indecent and immoral due to its sexual content and explicit language.
Lady Chatterley’s Lover also depicted an inter-class romance, which was considered taboo at the time given Britain’s strict social structure, not to mention the inclusion of an extramarital affair.
The novel had been privately published in France and Italy in the late 1920s, according to the BBC, but was censored by other countries thereafter.
Lady Chatterley (1993) is streaming on Prime Video for a fee