Black Narcissus Review: 3 Ups And 5 Downs Review

Despite the isolation of the setting, Black Narcissus is a heavily populated universe. There are of course the three leads, Clodagh, Dean and Ruth, several more nuns, the General, his son, the housekeeper, the villagers, all the children in attendance of the school plus the English ecclesiastic authorities and even an appearance by Gina McKee (who turns up at the last minute to complain, Sunderland accent still intact). Yet by the end of the third episode, we barely know any of them.

The Holy Man from the original is still keeping watch from the mountain and yet even he doesn't have much to say about anything. The nuns all fill their roles; there is Sister Practical, Sister Popular, Sister Gardener but none seem to serve the plot particularly well, save for exposition purposes. The General shows up at the convent to stamp his feet and approve of the progress from time to time, his son, the Prince Dilip Rai, charms his way to the heart of the young Kanchi and may or may not pose a threat but again, none of these characters are explored properly over the ample three hour window they are given.

There are some fine actors here, it's a shame none of them get to have any real bearing on the plot, which is content to revolve around the threesome of, you guessed it Clodagh, Dean and Ruth. At times, it feels as if they are the only ones with anything to do other than gardening, cooking or looking nervously into the distance.