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Mildred Pierce
Saturday 25 June 9:00pm - 10:20pm
Sky Atlantic 1/5, series 1

Anyone who adores the 1945 camp classic Mildred Pierce, with a full-throttle Joan Crawford in the title role and Ann Blyth as Veda, her monstrous brat of a daughter, should watch this purely for comparison purposes. There's none of the film's heightened sense of eye-popping melodrama and, therefore, none of the fun. It's just an interminable five-hour mini-series with the usually luminous Kate Winslet looking peeved while wearing lots of unflattering brown dresses. It's not torrid enough. Director Todd Haynes makes sure everything remains remorselessly tepid as honourable Mildred tries to earn a living to support her two daughters after she's dumped by her husband. It's 1931, the height of the Depression, so Mildred has little luck finding a job to fund the comfortable life she and her daughters, particularly noxious snob Veda, have been used to. And Veda is not happy.

Radio Times reviewer - Alison Graham

VIDEO Plus+: 10670545

Subtitled, Widescreen, High definition

Cast
Mildred Pierce - Kate Winslet
Bert Pierce - Brian F O'Byrne
Lucy Gessler - Melissa Leo
Wally Burgan - James LeGros
Ida Corwin - Mare Winningham
Veda Pierce - Morgan Turner
Ray Pierce - Quinn McColgan
Directed by: Todd Haynes
Radiotimes

Kate Winslet Gruelling TV Role

Kate Winslet has admitted her new TV role is the hardest work she has done since Titanic.

The Oscar-winning actress took the lead role in new television drama Mildred Pierce.

Winslet, 35, who appears in virtually every scene of the series, said the part was physically gruelling.

"It was like doing two-and-a-half films in 16 weeks. I think this was so much harder than any film project I've done since Titanic," she said.

Series' director Todd Haynes said there was only ever one actress he could envision in the role, adding: "I had never met Kate, but I could not get her out of my mind while I was reading [the book].

"She was the only actress I could see playing the part".

Guy Pearce and Evan Rachel Wood also star in the five-part mini-series, which was aired on HBO in the US and will now be shown on Sky Atlantic HD.

waveguide.co.uk