# Tess of the D'Urbervilles (2008)

> A low-born country girl's life is upended when her family learns of noble connections, drawing her into a fatal romantic entanglement.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/7475

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 4
- Episode runtime: 60 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, romance
- Network: BBC One
- Cast: Gemma Arterton, Eddie Redmayne, Hans Matheson, Ruth Jones, Christopher Fairbank, Ian Puleston-Davies, Jo Woodcock, Hugh Skinner
- TMDB rating: 7.6/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1186342/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: mild
- Tone: melancholic, tragic, romantic, sincere, austere

## What critics say

Audiences regard this BBC costume adaptation as a positive, handsomely mounted and emotionally affecting version of Hardy's novel, with a strong central performance.

## Synopsis

Tess of the D'Urbervilles (2008) is a British BBC One period drama miniseries created as a literary adaptation of Thomas Hardy's novel. Gemma Arterton plays Tess Durbeyfield, a low-born country girl whose family learns of noble connections, and Eddie Redmayne plays Angel Clare, the idealistic gentleman she meets. Hans Matheson plays Alec D'Urberville, the wealthy man whose attentions complicate her life, while Ruth Jones and Ian Puleston-Davies play her struggling parents. The engine of the story is Tess's search for dignity and love in a society that reads her birth and her past as a verdict on her worth. Told across four one-hour episodes, the miniseries moves through rural farm labor, family hardship, and the social pressures of a rigid hierarchy. Set in nineteenth century rural England, it is a lush yet harsh costume drama. Its tone is melancholic and emotionally charged, with a sense of fate closing in. Fans of Jane Eyre, Far from the Madding Crowd and Poldark will find resonance in its period romance and tragic heroine.

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