Brideshead Revisited

This classic 1981, 11-part adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s 1945 novel Brideshead Revisited was nominated for 13 BAFTA Awards, 11 Primetime Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards, and won the Broadcasting Press Guild Award for Best Drama Serial.

What made the series stand out was its thoughtful conversion of the novel’s tone of melancholy to the screen, telling the story of modest British Army officer Charles Ryder (Jeremy Irons) who recalls his youth at Oxford between World Wars as he enters the opulent world of aristocratic siblings Sebastian and Julia Flyte (Anthony Andrews and Diana Quick) who live on the luxurious Brideshead estate.

At the time of its original airing, it garnered controversy for its sex scenes and transparent homoeroticism, and more than 30 years on, this is the perfect chance for fans to revisit Brideshead, or for a whole new generation to see, for the first time, why it is still regarded as one of British TV’s finest ever creations.