More John Fowles. Granada’s The Ebony Tower (1984) is based on Fowles’ novella of 1974. Set in an idyllic Breton manor house, it’s a languid, rather aesthetic production — with a distinguished cast: Laurence Olivier, Roger Rees, Greta Scacchi and Toyah Willcox. And there’s a lyrical soundtrack from Sir Richard Rodney Bennett. So much to recommend it. I like it very much indeed.

“I’m a huge fan of John Fowles, as you have probably gathered. There have been a handful of film and television adaptations, although Fowles is not the easiest writer to translate to the screen. In Wednesday’s dip into the archive, we revisited The French Lieutenants’ Woman (1981).

And there’s The Magus (1968), starring Michael Caine, based on Fowles’ blockbuster of 1965. I re-read the book at the beginning of the year, all God knows how many pages of it, and loved it all over again. Some consider The Magus (1968) to be one of the worst films ever made. I’ve seen it now about three times, and honestly, it’s not that bad, and in places, actually even quite goodish, but unless you’ve read the book, you won’t have a clue as to what’s going on in the film, which may explain why it bombed at the box office.

And then there’s The Collector (1965), starring a nerdy Terence Stamp as a deranged lepidopterist, with the brilliant and beautiful Samantha Eggar as his prize catch. I watched it last night, intending to write about it today, but felt that somehow something was missing. But then, as I said, Fowles is notoriously difficult to adapt…”