Articles

E F Benson’s acid doyennes of polite 1930s Sussex society are brought sharply to life in the BBC’s new adaptation of Mapp and Lucia. Thrillingly mad and surrounded by a coterie of eccentric hangers on the two so-called ladies slug it out to be queen bee of Tilling (the ridiculously pretty real-life town of Rye). Fiendish acts of sabotage, mayhem and tart one-liners are carried out under the guise of polite conversation, tea parties and fetes. Anna Chancellor plays newcomer to Tilling Emmeline Lucas, and Miranda Richardson sinks her teeth into Elizabeth Mapp.