Jamaica Inn (2014 TV Series)   Starring: Jessica Brown Findlay, Sean Harris, Shirley Henderson, Joanne Whalley and Matthew McNulty Distributor: Fremantle Media RRP: £17.99 FHED 3123 Certificate: 15 Release Date: 26 May 2014

Following the death of her aunt, twenty-year-old Mary Yellan makes her way to her aunt Patience, whose husband Joss owns the Jamaica Inn. On her arrival Mary finds the inn a strange place, Joss is a bully and her aunt is totally controlled by him, odder still is that the inn never seems to open its door. As time passes Mary discovers the mysterious secret of the Jamaica inn...

Jamaica Inn (2013 - 3 Episodes - approx. 1 hr., long) is the latest adaptation of the Daphne Du Maurier (Rebecca (1938) The Birds (1963)) story. The series was much derided when it was first broadcast for the poor quality of the sound; personally I thought I was going deaf. This issue has been addressed for the DVD release. Even the PR blurb makes light of the original problem, hailing this version as ‘mumble free for DVD’.

The story is old enough and has been adapted many times, so I don’t think that it’s particularly spoiling the show by revealing that Joss seems to be at the head of a gang of wreckers, criminals who lure unwary ships onto the rocks so they can steal the cargo.

Adapted as a three episode show, the production plays a little fast and loose with Du Maurier’s characters. Jessica Brown Findlay is fine as Mary, part fearful, part wilful. It’s when she gets to the Inn that things seem a little odd. Sean Harris is a fine actor, but not the seven foot brute from the book, but what he lacks in stature he more than makes up with his scary, psychotic portrayal.

Joanne Whalley is less run down and under the thumb than her novel counterpart, although Matthew McNulty, as Joss’s brother Jem, and the object of Mary’s romantic feeling, is perfect for the role and the relationship between Mary and Jem is one of the more naturalistic aspects of the show.

Filmed in Northern Ireland, rather than Cornwall, the sets have that aspect of gritty realism which always adds a nice touch to a show, with its mud and general decrepitude displayed by the inn. Here are characters locked into an impossible situation. The darkness of the inn is a good visual representation of a location which has enough dark corners to hold a lifetimes worth of secrets.

Although the sound has been considerably improved, there are still the odd occasions where the accents and lack of enunciation makes some of the dialogue difficult to understand, but at least this has become a minor point in what is otherwise a fine adaptation of the book.

The DVD comes with a couple of extras. Behind the Scenes (9 min, 96 sec) has shots of the series being made. It tickled my funny bone as the mumbling in this section means that you can’t really make out what the actors are saying, almost like its first outing on television. Interviews (25 min, 03 sec) has various talking heads from both the production crew and the actors.

Now you can hear what is going on Jamaica Inn becomes a good period drama, well worth checking out on DVD if you felt cheated by the original broadcast.

7

Charles Packer