A Class Act

Matthew Macfadyen and Hayley Atwell star in a sumptuous adaptation of EM Forster’s classic novel

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On location at the iconic London restaurant Simpson’s in the Strand, it feels as though TV&Satellite Week has stepped back into the Edwardian era. We’re on set for BBC1’s lavish four-part adaptation of Howards End, EM Forster’s 1910 novel about equality, class divisions and the crossing of social boundaries in the 1900s.

In the scene that’s being filmed, Hayley Atwell, who plays strong, intelligent and compassionate Margaret ‘Meg’ Schlegel, and Matthew Macfadyen, who is rich, conventional businessman Henry Wilcox, are tucking into lunch in the wood-panelled Grand Divan dining room, as social tensions simmer.

FRIENDS AND FAMILIES

The series centres on forward thinking Margaret and her younger sister Helen (Philippa Coulthard), who become embroiled with the wealthy Wilcox family. Helen has a failed romance with Henry’s son Paul (Jonah Hauer-King) that results in awkwardness between the families, while Margaret forges a strong friendship with Henry’s kindly wife Ruth (Julia Ormond), who tells the younger woman about her deep love for the Wilcox family’s country home, Howards End.