´óÏó´«Ã½

To the Glasgow Film Theatre for a special preview of the feature film of Brideshead Revisited.

The cinema may be packed but producer Douglas Rae is under no illusions.

Introducing the film, he asks how many people in the audience saw the ITV series in 1981.

Almost everyone in the audience puts their hands up.

"And how many of you loved the series?"

He shakes his head in mock despondency as almost every hand in the place goes back up.

Making a film of such an iconic TV series was always going to be a challenge but actually even for those of us who remember the original with a warm wash of nostalgia, it's a pretty good adaptation.

The young actors who play Charles, Sebastian and Julia - Matthew Goode, Ben Whishaw and Hayley Atwell - are so young they hadn't seen the original series and Whishaw in particular gives a more subtle, poignant performance as poor, pampered Sebastian.

The older actors of course are overshadowed by the weighty cast who appeared last time around.

But Michael Gambon follows gamely in Laurence Olivier's footsteps as the exiled family patriarch Lord Marchmain and Patrick Malahide gives a hilariously acerbic performance as Charles Ryder's father, which more than matches that of the mighty John Gielgud.

Douglas Rae admits Emma Thompson wasn't his first choice as Lady Marchmain - "I think she plays it a bit like Helen Mirren in the Queen, it's a very regal performance" - but instead wanted the famous froideur of Kristin Scott Thomas.

But the studio Miramax would only agree to three newcomers in the central roles, if they had at least one bankable name on the cast, and Emma Thompson's name is one of the most bankable in Hollywood terms.

For the record, I thought she was fantastic.

A brilliant mixture of pious and poison, with just the tiniest glimpses of humanity beneath her icy facade.

The story is nicely potted into two hours without missing any of the plot, and particularly not the crux of the religious argument which is still the central point of the story.

There are some beautiful symbolic moments which capture some of the more minute details of the novel and it looks lavish and sumptuous.

But it's not just audiences who have to be won over.

The film-makers agreed they wouldn't make any radical changes to the novel or its characters, and any minor changes had to be approved by the Waugh Family.

A neat little turning of tables which would have amused Evelyn Waugh, who famously worked with Graham Greene on a screenplay in the 50s which was rejected by the studios of the time for being far too risque.

But this time round, the film has made it to the big screen - and the family gave it their approval just weeks ago.

"It was the longest silence after a film I've ever endured," recalls Douglas Rae, "really unsettling, and then they decided they like it."

Of course the one constant in both film and TV series is the setting - Castle Howard in Yorkshire.

Like Emma Thompson, not the immediate choice of the producer.

"We looked at about 25 different houses across England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland," says Rae.

"Being a Scot, I'd have loved to have used Hopetoun House but the Forth Bridge was in too many of the views.

"I was also keen on Chatsworth and got as far as having tea with the Duchess of Devonshire who announced it would be £25,000 per day."

"But your grace, we'll be on location for three months, I said.

And she replied, "I know. It's £25,000 per day."

"But the great thing was that word got back pretty quickly to Simon Howard who immediately dropped his price, which is how we ended up back at Castle Howard.

"But it had everything we needed, the space for all the equipment, the long driveway, the views and of course the house itself."

Brideshead Revisited (12A) opens in cinemas on 3 October.