Spectator by Seema Goswami: Why adapt when you can evolve?

Sometimes, the movie or show does it better than the book it is based on. Here’s when to stream, not flip

Ever since I first read Riders in the early ’90s, I have been a fan of Jilly Cooper. So, you’d think I would be delighted when I read that her second bonkbuster, Rivals, was being turned into a TV series, with a star-studded cast. But instead, all I felt was trepidation for fear that one of my favourite books would be ruined by a less than successful transition to the small screen.

The show, Rivals, lived up to the rambunctious promise of Jilly Cooper’s book.

And while, like most other Jilly Cooper fans, I was appalled by the choice of actor to play the upper-class cad, Rupert Campbell Black (Who chooses a dark-haired, swarthy guy to play the ice-blond RCB?) the series itself left me exhilarated. It captured the joyous excess of the ’80s to perfection, bringing a pre-PC era to life, with its large hair and larger appetites, and its cheerful celebration of conspicuous consumption. By the time the series ended, even the dark-haired Rupert Campbell Black had begun to grow on me, as I began the impatient wait for series two.

But while Rivals more than lived up to the rambunctious promise of the book, there is a vanishingly small number of TV adaptations that do justice to the books they are based on. Which is why it makes sense to give a shout-out to those who have succeeded. So here, in no particular order of importance, are some TV series that have done their best – or even better than – by the books that were their source material.

In Slow Horses, the plots have been tightened and the climaxes are more tightly crafted than the book.

The first show that comes to mind is, of course, Slow Horses, the series based on the spy novels by Mick Herron. In fact, I am going to go out on a limb and say that the TV series is far better than the books. The plots have been tightened, the climaxes are far more tightly crafted, and the performances of the actors – especially Gary Oldman, who is sublime as Jackson Lamb – provide an edge that the books don’t always have.

Apples Never Fall shone more than the book it was based on.

Apples Never Fall

Liane Moriarty is another author who has only gained from having her books subtly changed for the streaming services. Both Big Little Lies and Apples Never Fall were great books, which I enjoyed immensely when they first came out and I was a bit sceptical about whether they would survive being transposed to America from Australia. As it turned out, I need not have worried. Both the books were even better as TV series – thanks, in no small measure, to the assured performances of such stars as Nicole Kidman and Annette Bening.

In Disclaimer, the denouement was as chilling in the series as it was in the book.

Disclaimer

More recently, the TV series that has captured the spirit of the book perfectly is Disclaimer. The slow burn of the book, with new details being drip-fed to the reader, until you are hit by the sledgehammer of the revelation at the end, which turns the entire narrative upside down, depended on a multiplicity of narrative voices. And there was a real danger that the plot would be overshadowed by the erotica in a visual medium like television. But as it turned out, the TV series was pitch perfect, with marquee performances by such stars as Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline and Sacha Baron Cohen. And the denouement (No spoilers, don’t worry!) was as chilling in the series as it was in the book.

From HT Brunch, November 23, 2024

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