A joint BBC and TVNZ production, The Luminaries is based on the novel of the same name by New Zealand writer Eleanor Catton, published in 2013. The story has, refreshingly, been adapted for the TV screen by the writer herself, she has previously written the screenplay for the 2020 film Emma.
On this occasion she has managed to condense her own 848-page novel into six one-hour episodes, which is quite a feat in itself, though, and I have to take other people’s word for this as I haven’t read the book, the story in this drama departs somewhat from the novel. Whereas the novel focusses on the main character of Walter Moody, the TV series instead focusses on the Anna Wetherell and Emery Staines. This may annoy some people but as far as I am concerned, it’s the writer’s own work and she can adapt it however she likes.
The cast is led by Eve Hewson who plays Anna Wetherell, you may have seen her in Tesla (2020), Papillon (2017) and Bridge of Spies (2015). Emery Staines is played by Himesh Patel, who will be familiar to EastEnders fans as well as appearing in The Aeronauts (2019) and Eva Green, whose film credits include playing Sibylla in Kingdom of Heaven (2005), as well as appearing in the TV series Penny Dreadful (2014), plays Lydia Wells.
The most common complaint about The Luminaries was about the lighting, namely that some of the scenes are too dark to see anything. I thought perhaps people were being too picky however I take it back, they were absolutely right. I did find myself squinting to see what was going on, which was interesting considering that the night scene in question was set during a full moon. The director has previously suggested that the lighting was deliberate and used to add a “sense of mystery and intrigue”. Fair enough but the mystery and intrigue is somewhat lost in the frustration of squinting to see who is talking to who.
The story is set in the 1860s in New Zealand during the gold rush. It’s intriguing but (and this is especially true during the first episode) you need to be paying attention as it does flit back and forth between the past and the present. That being said the series has enough about it, even for a person who is not familiar with the story, that it will keep you hooked. If you give it your full attention and patience, things start to make a bit more sense.
You can either watch each episode weekly on BBC One at 9pm on Sundays. Alternatively you can binge watch the entire series as all episodes are available on iPlayer.
