The Barchester Chronicles
The first two episodes of this BBC miniseries only hint at the delights  to come. A lawsuit aimed at church reform in the town of Barchester forces  a decent middle-aged clergyman (the august Donald Pleasence, best known in  the U.S. for theHalloweenmovies) into a moral crisis and a  conflict with his son-in-law, a pompous archdeacon (Nigel Hawthorne,The Madness of King George). The gracefully written and acted  narrative shows glimpses of dry wit--but in episode 3, the arrival of  a new bishop (Clive Swift,Keeping Up Appearances), his imperious  wife (Geraldine McEwan,The Magdalene Sisters), and his devious  chaplain (Alan Rickman,Truly Madly Deeply, theHarry Pottermovies) launchesThe Barchester Chroniclesinto a satirical power  struggle all the more mesmerizing because of the smallness of the  territory. The scheming of the citizens and clergy of this British town is  both Byzantine and wonderfully comic as the tempestuous personalities claw  and dig at each other.Rickman, in one of his first film or television roles, turns in a tour de  force of oily ambition. McEwan's ferocious machinations are downright  terrifying, while the sputtering Hawthorne (The Madness of King  George) seems constantly in danger of bursting a vein. At the center  of it all is Pleasence. Making goodness compelling has always been  difficult, since wickedness is always more dramatic; but Pleasence brings  a deep and stirring passion to his role that proves as engaging as all the  back-biting that surrounds him. And these are just the more familiar  faces; a host of lesser-known actors give equally superb performances. The  final episode (of seven) will have you on pins and needles.The  Barchester Chronicles, adapted from two novels by Anthony Trollope, is  one of those marvels of British television, a skillful production that  proves intelligent fare can be hugely entertaining.--Bret Fetzer