--- title: "Vanity Fair" year: 1998 kind: "series" canonical: "https://film.one/tv/vanity-fair" fi1m_score: 72 critics_reviews: 2 published: "2026-09-16T22:00:55.539080+00:00" updated: "2026-09-16T22:01:09.361055+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Vanity Fair (1998) Created by Andrew Davies · 50m · Drama **Fi1m score: 72** · Critics: 2 of 6 reviews so far *In a sentence:* The costumes are doing their best to make these people look respectable > Natasha Little gives this gritty *Vanity Fair* a persuasive centre, and Marc Munden keeps the period drama from becoming polite display. The adaptation hurries its supporting characters, but its sharp view of ambition holds our attention. ## Synopsis *Vanity Fair* brings Becky Sharp (Natasha Little), Amelia Sedley (Frances Grey) and William Dobbin (Philip Glenister) into a period drama about ambition. Mr Sedley (David Ross), Mrs Sedley (Michele Dotrice) and Miss Pinkerton (Pat Keen) are also among the characters in this adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray’s novel. Andrew Davies writes the six-part series, directed by Marc Munden. Its ensemble also includes Miss Swartz (Sara Powell), Samuel (Felix Dexter) and Charlotte Pinkerton (Charlotte West-Oram), as the novel is condensed for television. ## Review *Vanity Fair* is good, uneven period television, worth the six episodes if an unsentimental treatment of ambition appeals. Marc Munden directs Andrew Davies’s adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray’s novel with little interest in making the past a restful place. It works best when the performers have time to hold our attention. When the writing hurries them towards the next piece of the story, we start to notice how much has been compressed. Natasha Little’s Becky Sharp gives the programme an unsettling charm: she makes ambition engaging without making it reassuring. We found ourselves warming to her more than we expected, because the performance makes self-interest seem reasonable long enough for us to consider it. There is no need to turn that response into a claim that Becky deserves our approval. Natasha Little is interesting enough to watch while we reserve judgement. Frances Grey, playing Amelia Sedley, and Philip Glenister, playing William Dobbin, help prevent the series from becoming a one-performance attraction. Their work asks for a little more patience than the adaptation always supplies. We need time with these people if their feelings are to matter as much as Becky’s drive, and the writing sometimes moves on before that happens. The performances remain persuasive, even where the space given to them feels insufficient. The gritty look is a sound choice for material that could easily become an excuse to admire period dress. Oliver Curtis’s cinematography and Malcolm Thornton’s production design keep the pictures from feeling too tidy or too protective of their inhabitants. Rosalind Ebbutt’s costumes contribute to that period setting without becoming the sole attraction. The clothes are worth noticing, but they do not distract from the less agreeable business of getting ahead. Andrew Davies has made the novel manageable across six episodes, and that counts for something. William Diver’s editing maintains the forward movement, though the pace occasionally leaves too little time for a relationship to become convincing. There is no obligation to preserve every detail of a book on television. But the details retained must give the actors enough to work with, and this version sometimes seems more concerned with reaching the next event than staying with the people affected by it. Murray Gold’s music supplies urgency, although it is less distinctive than the images. Marc Munden’s direction is more memorable for the discomfort it allows into the period setting, which stops the series becoming an agreeable procession of well-dressed people. Costume drama can be sharp about money and still make wealth look like an excellent arrangement. This production’s rougher appearance helps keep that temptation in check, even when the storytelling becomes hurried. At its strongest, *Vanity Fair* makes watching ambitious people calculate their next move absorbing enough to excuse the unevenness elsewhere. Its weaker stretches make us notice how much story Andrew Davies is trying to fit into the available time. We would recommend it to those who enjoy unsentimental period drama, with the caveat that Becky gets more room to interest us than the people around her. *Fi1m score 72, published 16 September 2026.* ### Reviews we read (2) - **Variety** (90/100, inferred): The critic calls the six-hour miniseries a richly rewarding adaptation that stands out from typical period pieces, thanks to its gritty, offbeat tone and visual style. They highlight the strong condensation of Thackeray’s novel and how its themes of ambition still resonate. [Read](https://variety.com/1999/tv/reviews/vanity-fair-1200459273/) - **The Independent**, DJ Taylor (30/100, inferred): The adaptation fails to successfully recreate Thackeray's novel or deliver a compelling TV drama, resulting in a sinking feeling that neither goal was achieved. The critic singles out the shackling of two different artistic forms and the director's attempt to do both as key issues behind its shortcomings. [Read](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/history-buried-by-her-story-1183447.html) ## Details - **Created by:** Andrew Davies - **Creator:** Andrew Davies - **Director:** Marc Munden - **Writer:** Andrew Davies - **Novel:** William Makepeace Thackeray - **Cinematography:** Oliver Curtis - **Editor:** William Diver - **Music:** Murray Gold - **Production design:** Malcolm Thornton - **Costume design:** Rosalind Ebbutt - **Producer:** Gillian McNeill - **Cast:** Natasha Little as Becky Sharp; Frances Grey as Amelia Sedley; Philip Glenister as William Dobbin; David Ross as Mr Sedley; Danielle Hawley as Little Becky Sharp; Paul Brightwell as Sharp; Sara Powell as Miss Swartz; Pat Keen as Miss Pinkerton - **Runtime:** 50m - **Release (the US):** 1 November 1998 - **Genres:** Drama ## Where to watch in the US - The Roku Channel: free, hd - Tubi: free, sd *Checked 2026-09-16.* Also available in: AT, GB, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *The Way We Live Now* (2001): Another period society whose respect for money exceeds its interest in honesty. - *Dangerous Liaisons* (1988), Fi1m 84: For calculated charm, social cruelty and performances that make both painfully entertaining. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/dangerous-liaisons.md) - *The House of Mirth* (2000): A harsher account of what maintaining a place in society can cost. - *The Rules of the Game* (1939), Fi1m 91: French country-house manners conceal selfishness that the comedy makes harder to dismiss. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-rules-of-the-game.md) - *The Leopard* (1963): Italian aristocrats consider change while remaining remarkably attached to their own comforts. --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/tv/vanity-fair