Desperate Romantics - Daily Mirror Pick of the Day

Pick of the Day: Desperate Romantics - BBC2/BBC HD, 9pm

By Jane Simon 11/08/2009


There’s a lot of sex, and even a little drawing, in this week’s episode. The art, of course, comes from combining the two.

William Holman Hunt (Rafe Spall) has returned from the Holy Land with a quantity of hashish and his soon-to-be-famous, biblically inspired painting, The Scapegoat. “Why,” his friends want to know, “is the goat wearing a ribbon?”

“Because,” Rossetti suggests, “Hunt got lonely in the desert and sometimes he wanted the goat to make a bit of an effort.”

Hunt’s girlfriend and russet-haired model Annie Miller has also been rather lonely while he’s away and has been getting some Ladette to Lady-style instruction from their supposedly trustworthy friend Fred.

Jennie Jacques was one of the least well-known of the cast before this but she has been an absolute revelation as the lusty, lovable Annie, her presence having a similar effect to a firecracker going off in the middle of a vicar’s tea party.

According to this version of events, Annie was a prostitute when Hunt found her although, in real life, she was apparently nothing more scandalous than a barmaid.

One of the reasons why Desperate Romantics works so well is because even though it’s billed as a drama, it’s very funny – far, far funnier in fact than most of the BBC’s so-called comedies.

It also looks absolutely ravishing – especially in the scenes set in the glasshouse studio, where Rossetti is teaching fiancee Lizzie Siddal to draw.

For a real art lesson, over on BBC4 straight after this at 10pm there’s a less fun and more factual appraisal in part two of the documentary series: The Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Revolutionaries. Expect more painting and less panting.

Original article here.