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A BBC drama that many viewers believe may have "inspired Saltburn " has gone viral again after fans rediscovered it - with many calling it "addictive" and "brilliantly ahead of its time." Originally released in 2006, the three-part miniseries The Line of Beauty is adapted from Alan Hollinghurst’s Booker Prize-winning novel and stars Hayley Atwell, Dan Stevens, Tim McInnerny and Alex Wyndham. Set against the backdrop of 1980s London, the series follows Nick Guest, a young Oxford graduate who moves into the lavish Notting Hill home of his university friend Toby Fedden, whose father is a rising Conservative MP. While staying there, Nick is asked to look after Toby's troubled sister Cat, who struggles with bipolar disorder - but soon becomes entangled in the family's dramatic and scandalous world of privilege, politics and forbidden desire. The drama explores class, sexuality and hypocrisy during the height of the AIDS epidemic, offering a sharp, emotionally charged look at ambition and belonging in Thatcher-era Britain. The BBC original series has now found a new home on Amazon Prime Video, with all three episodes available to stream by subscribers at no extra charge. The Line of Beauty has an impressive 77% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and viewers have praised the show for its "gripping storytelling" often comparing it to Saltburn and The Great Gatsby, the Express reports. Reviewing the series, one viewer wrote: "Alan Hollinghurst's The Line of Beaut' is, at least in this adaptation, a version of 'The Great Gatsby' fitted to 1980s Britain, the story of a young man from an ordinary background who mistakenly harbours too many illusions about the beautiful people of the smart set." Another viewer said the show has "all the makings of a classic", writing: “What I found so extraordinary about this adaptation (or at least the first episode) is how cleverly Davies has mined the novel for humour, social commentary and romance." They continued: "On-screen representations of the upper-middle-classes tend to show us the wholly implausible world of PG Wodehouse, but without Wodehouse's wit, or stick the knife in with bitter class hatred. The Line of Beauty does neither; showing us the Fedden family warts and all.” Another echoed: “It’s very reminiscent of such things as Brideshead Revisited, The Talented Mr Ripley and the more recent Saltburn.” Another viewer described the series on an IMDb review as a "highly underrated masterpiece," adding: "It not only offers us a mesmerising tale of class, love, sexuality, politics and personal struggles but also introduces us to the hidden treasure that is Dan Stevens’ acting prowess.” Join the Daily Record's WhatsApp community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages.
