TV Review - To Walk Invisible

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2016 - BBC TV Spoiler alerts A true labour of love BBC drama documentary look at the troubled lives of the three Bronte sisters, Emily, Anne and Charlotte, their father the Parson and their brother Branwell. Branwell initiated the idea of the four siblings becoming great poets and though he had a few poems printed, it was the girls who ultimately found fame while a doomed romance with a married woman pushed him irreversibly into debt and alcoholism that destroyed him. For women to get published as authors was unthinkable and after many rejections, the girls adopted male pseudonyms that they kept secret even from their father for many years but when they finally went public it was to much acclaim, though only Charlotte would live long enough to really enjoy her success. There is a sense of gritty realism with the Brontes presented with rich Yorkshire accents and very sumptuous location settings throughout the moorland districts of Oldham and Yorkshire, with a final look at the Parsonage museum as it looks today with tourists admiring the work and environment of the Brontes. The performances are wonderful, especially from Finn Atkins as the humourless puritanical Charlotte. However it is the two principle male players who steal the honours. Jonathon Price is quietly understated as the Parson father, struggling with failing eyesight and shocked by the deterioration of his son, which they were all powerless to prevent. The really outstanding performance however is the unknown Adam Nagalatis as Branwell, seething in passion, fury and deception, as a clear inspiration for Heathcliffe, but also a pitiful helpless wretch unable to break free of his cycle of self destruction. Wonderful viewing, and a real highlight of the BBC’s Xmas viewing output. The title refers to the Bronte’s façade of humility and anonymity as their only path to literary success in a male dominion. Arthur Chappell