The actors in this production were excellently cast, and the movie was extremely well made, but overall this story was rather depressing and full of immoral behavior. The members of the family who were following their hearts were also adulterous. The members of the family who were upstanding citizens were backstabbing gossipers. Not a pretty picture is portrayed here: darkness lurks beneath all the starched collars and jewels. Ioan Gruffudd blew me away as Phil, and Irene and Soames were especially riveting in their parts. i would guess that this series was fairly true to the books. This miniseries is a perfect example of the fact that just because something is well made doesn’t necessarily mean that it is enjoyable. Three stars because i didn’t “like” it but it’s still worth seeing i guess.