The BBC have really been trumpeting this one on high, and it's been hard to avoid the saucy trailers. So what have we got?
At first sight it seems to be a slightly zapped-up noughties-style costume-drama version of John Cleland's novel about a young country girl who falls into a life of prostitution in bawdy 18th-century London. Adapated by Andrew Davies (who's normally pretty good), the cast - including Alison Steadman, Philip Jackson, Alex Robertson and Samantha Bond - look strong. And relative newcomer Rebecca Night seems OK in the leading role. What isn't quite so good is the clunky sauciness; hardly soft-porn, it sits slightly uncomfortably on the quality cast, feeling tacked on, almost as though it's been deliberately added to generate a bit of buzz.
In the first episode a vulnerable Fanny (Night) is lured to London after losing her parents to smallpox. Seized upon by notorious madam Mrs Brown (Steadman), Fanny's virtue is tested by the lascivious Mr Crofts (Jackson).
After a daring escape with her true love, Charles (Robertson), Fanny briefly basks in happy domesticity. But when Charles's father, Mr Crofts, meets his son's fiancée, he banishes Charles to the West Indies and leaves Fanny alone with spiralling debts.
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