The Midwich Cuckoos
As a book lover I am intrigued by what books are touchstones with my friends. What book was their everything when they were growing up? Because everyone has some book that is the backbone of their personality and often they read it at a young age way before they should have. When discussing this with my British friends it's even more intriguing because there are books they read that were nowhere near as popular Stateside and some that were never even available here, and yes, I'm mainly thinking of Enid Blyton. Here everyone will talk about The Chronicles of Narnia, while there they're all about The Dark Is Rising Sequence. The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham is one of those books, loved overseas but overlooked here. The 1960s film adaptation, The Village of the Damned, was hugely successful, which is how it's known here. But just the film, not the source material. In fact, while this adaptation was put up on Acorn originally as The Midwich Cuckoos within a month they renamed it Midwich Cuckoos: Village of the Damned because apparently Americans are that ignorant. And at the moment I wouldn't really argue with that. The important thing was that two and a half years after it was released in the UK I was finally able to watch this stunning science fiction exploration of what life is like now starring Keeley Hawes. Hawes plays the gender swapped Dr. Zellaby played by the incomparable George Sanders in the film. Though gender swapping the role adds so much to the understanding of this adaptation and to the horrors of the story told as seen from a female perspective. Because while previous adaptations have focused on the malevolent children this one isn't just about that. It's far more about female autonomy and how these women are impregnated against their will, forced to carry the babies to term, even going so far as to show how the unborn children are able to take control of the women's bodies so that they are unable to have abortions, and then are forced to live in a police state where they raise "their" children. While I'm sure a lot of people out there are like, well, that's not likely to happen, we're not living in The Handmaid's Tale yet... I counter that the reason this is so powerful is that it is exactly a scenario that could play out. I mean, take away the alien aspect, and it's a government forcing women to bear children and then monitoring their every move. That is totally plausible and as more and more rights get stripped away, terrifyingly likely. What ups this version though is having Dr. Zellaby go from a Gordon to a Susannah. Having the interface between the government, the children, and the mothers be a mother herself adds another layer to this. Add in that she herself has a secret about how hard she handled becoming a mother, and well, the impact of this series is all that more powerful. And as for the children? Oh, they are still very much terrifying and deserve what they get, but at the same time it's interesting because while they are a hive mind they actually do have individuality as Dr. Zellaby points out to her granddaughter Evie that she has tastes in ice cream different than the whole, that there are predilections. They are really evil only as a whole and individually they could be good. So what does this show teach us? Mob mentality is real and dangerous and the government want to control us. Especially if we're female. I can't think of anything more spot on. Terrifying but spot on.
Adaptations of books were abundant this year. So much so that even if I watched a show this year if I knew it was getting another season I saved it for the future. Which means, yes, I loved Murderbot, I'm just not talking about it. Yet. Because Ruth Ellis only got four episodes to tell her life story so she was one and done. Though damn. I really relate so hard to a character that's head is full of old television theme songs and doesn't want to make eye contact. That being Murderbot, not Ruth Ellis. Though that could have been an interesting twist in that depressing story. And because I'm me I watched a lot of British adaptations this year which meant that there were several actors who've made multiple appearances here. Keeley Hawes crushed it on The Midwhich Cuckoos AND Miss Austen where she costarred in both with Synnove Karlsen, once playing her mother and once playing the same character but obviously older. As for Alfred Enoch? So delightful in Miss Austen and then so amusingly unhinged in The Couple Next Door. But don't think these weird reoccurrences were limited to actors, oh no! Neston Park in Wiltshire was owned by Lady Tressilian in Towards Zero AND Lord Tony Baddingham in Rivals. Now that is a showdown I'd like to watch. Or how about we just sign Anjelica Huston up for a role on Rivals. I think she'd be perfect in how she chews the scenery. I mean that has to be why they just cast Rupert Everett! So here's to all the books adapted this year and all the rest to come. What adaptations have you been enjoying this year? Or dare I ask, which adaptations did you despise? I'm physically recoiling at the thought of ANOTHER Tommy and Tuppence adaptation.
