Why Scarborough is inspiring for scriptwriter Gwyneth Hughes
That she is a frequent visitor to the town endeared the former newspaper and TV journalist to her audience immediately. The fact that one of the stars of the drama - Michael Palin - is also a headliner of the festival is lovely serendipity.
Her event on adapting Thackeray's Vanity Fair for ITV was edifying, entertaining and reassuring.
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Hide AdShe threw light on the characters and the themes of this tome of a novel which features Becky Sharpe, one of the most loathsome and yet loveable female characters in all literature.
Rather than ignore Thackeray, she said 'she talked to him like he was in the room' and did worry whether he would approve of what she had done.
He next task is to bring Henry Fielding's Tom Jones to ITV - I look forward to seeing it and believe Fielding would probably have been flattered that his book is getting such attention.