TV Pick of the Week: My Brilliant Career - review by Yvette Huddleston
My Brilliant Career Netflix, review by Yvette Huddleston
Adapted by Liz Doran from Miles Franklin’s classic Australian 1901 novel, this excellent six-part period drama set in late 19th century rural Australia benefits from an outstanding central performance from Philippa Northeast as the feisty protagonist Sybylla Melvyn.
Sybylla lives on a remote farm in Possum Gully with her parents and several younger siblings. It is a loving family and the children live a happy, outdoors life but it is a hand-to-mouth existence and there are frequent money struggles. Sybylla is adventurous, self-confident and has ambitions to become a writer. When her maternal grandmother Mrs Bossier (Anna Chancellor) gets in touch to say that Sybylla should come to stay with her at her grand home Caddagat House and be introduced into society. Sybbylla is reluctant to go, it is a very long way from home, but she relents when she realises that it might actually be beneficial - she needs to have new experiences that she can write about.
When she arrives at Caddagat House, she meets her stern grandmother and her kind, gentle aunt Helen (Genevieve O’Reilly), a widow. She soon discovers that ‘being introduced into society’ is actually a euphemism from finding a suitable husband - and marriage is most definitely not part of her plans. She resists attempts at matchmaking by her grandmother and aunt but when her mother comes to visit and explains that actually the family needs her to marry in order to continue living and working on their farm, she feels under immense pressure to comply. Her own mother was estranged from the family for years because she married for love and Sybylla’s father was not rich and has not been terribly good at managing the little money they do have.
As Sybylla acclimates to her new surroundings, recording her thoughts and experiences in her notebook - she meets bohemian neighbour Augusta Beecham (Kate Mulvany) who lives in a rambling mansion with her nephew Harry (Christopher Chung), an eminently eligible bachelor. She also meets Mrs Bossier’s English estate manager Frank Howden (Jake Dunn). There develops between them a sweet, almost romantic triangle, although the screenplay wisely doesn’t overplay this and instead allows the friendships to breathe. And Sybylla, encouraged by Augusta, looks at alternative ways of making money and ensuring her independence such as writing short stories for magazines. As Sybylla, Northeast is a hugely likeable heroine and you will find yourself rooting for her all the way. A real treat.