The Line of Beauty is Andrew Davies’ latest adaptation (this time of Alan Hollinghurst’s Booker Prize-winning novel) for the Beeb.  If you loved any of Davies’ massive back-catalogue of earlier work for TV (which includes the recent Bleak House as well as Pride and Prejudice; Vanity Fair; Daniel Deronda; Doctor Zhivago; House of Cards (and its two sequels) and Tipping the Velvet) then you might reasonably have expected to enjoy this.

So would you…?

It’s 1983 and Oxford graduate Nick Guest [Dan Stevens] arrives to stay in the garrett guest room of his friend Toby Fedden’s [Oliver Coleman] parents’ London pad.  He unpacks his books and goes down for dinner with the family: father Gerald [Tim McInnerny] the Tory MP for Barwick (coincidentally where Nick comes from), mum Rachel [Alice Krige] and sister Catharine [Hayley Atwell] aka Cat the beautiful but self-harming wreck whom Nick finds out he will be "baby-sitting" for the weekend. After everyone else leaves Cat teases Nick that "it’s just you and me now."

Wine and soft chamber music soon give way to spliffs and The Passions "I’m in Love With A German Filmstar", and an instant interrogation by Cat about what it’s like to be gay: "Have you shagged Toby?"

Next day Cat introduces Nick to Brentford the minicab driver [Oscar James] – her knight in shining armour.  She’s been checking the personal columns for Nick and has found the perfect match:  Leo [Don Gilet].  After a brief phone call, the two agree to meet the next day.  Nick (a virgin, it turns out) is breathless.  Ecstatic, he rushes to tell Cat but…she’s been slashing her arms again, to the sound of The Stranglers’ Peaches.  Nick patches her up, and they take a walk in the private garden while he tries to understand, to get into the head of madness – "it’s glittery and black, not like depression – when you’re down – that’s brown."

Later that day Nick’s all toffed up and on his way to meet Leo.  He spots Leo’s bike (from his photo) propped up at the cafe but there’s no sign of him.  But wait!  Here he is, coming up behind Nick (appropriately enough) – lots of good eye contact and smiles.  "Wanna drink?" "So, did you get masses of replies?"  "Hundreds – I’m not answering most of them."  But there’s an undertone to Leo – he seems more than a little predatory:  mentioning Nick’s "smart address"; checking out his gay credentials ("was that your sister I saw going into the house?") and when Nick admits he’s not the "nice little rich boy" of Leo’s assumption, Leo replies: "still, your friends must be rich."

Leo makes it clear he’s keen to "get going" (in more ways than one) and after a brief debate about why they can’t go to either home Nick hits on the idea of using the private-access park next to Toby’s place.  There, they bump into a crusty old upper-class twit (the first of many) who interrogates their right to be in the park but leaves them in peace when Nick explains where he’s staying, with the awful double-entendre "It’s a lovely night for it!".  Hohoho.

The next morning the family returns home bearing gifts – cologne for Nick and local cheese.  They invite Nick to stay on as "surrogate son" and make it clear he’s welcome to bring his friends back any time, and he’s also welcome to go with them to the family pile for Toby’s 21st, and to meet his Lordship (Toby’s uncle – Lord Kessler [John Standing]).  Nick impresses Kessler with his knowledge of antique furniture and is treated in return with a glimpse of his Lordship’s photo album, including the one of Henry James photos of when he stayed at the house.

In the afternoon the garden party gets into full swing with a live string quartet, and Cat introduces Nick to Russell – a photographer from Face who is keen to snap members of the Tory cabinet disgracing themselves.  He’s disappointed Thatcher’s not coming and he’ll have to make do with the Home Secretary.  After Toby’s 21st birthday dinner Nick finds himself alone, wandering through the house that has divided itself into an elegant soirée for the elders and a disco for the Young Conservatives.  One of the waiters catches Nick’s eye and he follows him into the disco where a crowd are bopping away madly to the strains of Duran Duran’s "Planet Earth."  Nick spots the waiter downing a glass from his tray of bubbly.  Making his way back out of the disco Nick is collared by Rachel who introduces him to Toby’s godmother.  She tries to grill him on his views of "the coloured question," but by this time Nick is feeling the effects of too much champagne and makes his excuses.  To his surprise the waiter (Twister?) arranges to meet him on the main stairs at 3am.  Their plans are thwarted when Nick falls into a drunken sleep on the sofa and awakens the next morning, still on the sofa, to find all signs of the party cleared away.

Back at the house, he’s working on some papers when Leo comes to call and invites him down to Portobello.  Nick is introduced to Pete [Richard Lintern] – an antique dealer who is clearly an old lover of Leo’s.  Pete also has a good line in cynicism (antiques or Leo’s character, it’s all the same to Pete).  Leo takes Nick off for another al-fresco quickie in the park, after which Nick innocently declares his love for Leo, to Leo’s obvious discomfort.  They try to make plans for that evening but Leo seems more than happy to cry off when Nick says he’s supposed to attend a dinner party for a "load of boring old Tories."

At dinner Nick is seated beside Penny Kent [Lydia Leonard] whom Gerald has asked to come and work for him in the House.  The women "withdraw" to leave the men to their cigars (good grief – was this archaic ritual still happening in 1983?).  Nick is being regaled by the awful Barry Groom [wonderfully played by the versatile Christopher Fairbank] when suddenly Brentford returns with a
drunken Cat.  He is subjected to a torrent of racial abuse and implicit prejudice from just about everyone but Nick in a remarkable scene that finally makes overt the social undercurrents that have been hinted at throughout the episode.

The following day Leo takes Nick to meet his mum [Floella Benjamin] (who doesn’t know) and sister [Nikki Amuka-Bird] (who clearly does).  Escaping from his Mum’s religious fervour, Leo and Nick return to the Fedden’s house – everyone’s gone to Barwick except Cat, and there’s no sign of her.  Leo barely has time to display his artistic side by tinkling out a few notes on the piano before the pair are off to share their first full night in a proper bed.

Morning dawns and Leo is up with the lark and making excuses to leave.  Nick complains and once again declares his love.  Leo is by now very uncomfortable with this – and tells Nick they need to cool it for a bit, because "it’s complicated" and Nick will "get over it."  So off he cycles just as the family return.  The front door of the ostentatious town house closes on Nick’s anguish.

What did I think?

This was the "establishment" episode, so it was bound to be a bit slow, but nevertheless we were introduced to the main characters at a fair lick and there were some entertaining set pieces (the party, the meeting of the parents).  While the subject would not normally be something I’d go for, I think Davies has translated the material well and has, especially, managed to evoke the feel of the eighties brilliantly through the use of selected iconic tracks for the background music.

I haven’t read the book, but there were clear hints of things to come in the interaction between Nick, Leo and Pete.  This is 1983, right?  So it’s a fair bet that Pete’s sallow complexion, gaunt frame and occasional chesty cough isn’t going to turn out to be tuberculosis.  The Fedden’s reaction to what I suspect will be a case of AIDS in their smart London pad will be very dramatic, if not very pleasant, to watch!

If you missed this episode you can watch it online on the BBC2 website, or catch up with episode two next Wednesday [John Beresford]

* The Line of Beauty, BBC2, 9pm Wednesdays for the next two weeks

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