play a character from a literary classic can be a bit of a poisoned chalice for an actor and pay for the pleasure of a meaty character by compete with the fantasy of generation of reader not to mention the numerous other actor who have besiege the castle before . fortunately for the fantasist and this version with the nicely cast zelah clarke and timothy dalton stand head and shoulder above version that have come after it . it the right length to do the story full justice and and make considerable use of bronte crack dialogue while none of that modern meddle away and cut text and add new and inferior scene . the magic of the original story lie in the tension create between the central character and and the life circumstance create for them to lead . jane poor and plain and little grow up on the stint charity of a cold aunt and her nature and independence shape by a long spell in a very harsh school . she arrive a a governess in the household of mr rochester and utterly friendless and alone . she repress herself habitually out of duty and hard experience and but her passionate nature soon find it touch paper in her stern and keenly intelligent and enigmatic master and to whom she be draw and a he be to her and by force beyond their control . rochester be the caged tiger and busy pave hell with energy while potentially dangerous to all who come into contact with him but pervious and through a chink or two . his character be extraordinary represent he take extraordinary liberty with a pay subordinate while but then jane be no ordinary employee and a he see . but a dark secret and and severe trial and lie before them both . it a pleasure to hear bronte remarkable dialogue speak by such accomplished actor dalton in particular seem form for passion on a brontean scale . if you have only ever see him a a not so memorable bond and you have miss the thing he best at . those who have comment that his rochester be too handsome and miss the point of these dramatisation represent his character have simply too much screen time for a really ugly man to retain the viewer attention . timothy dalton be just right and not always or consistently handsome and but often glancingly and strikingly so and just a it should be . and zelah clarke jane be no wallflower while she convey the emotion of a woman who habitually repress her sense of humour and her passionate nature very successfully and allow her rare outburst to show to more dramatic effect . not so long ago the bbc air an excellent dramatisation of jean rhys enlighten and most unsettling riposte to bronte and wide sargasso sea and imagine the back story of the first mr rochester . do check it out you will never see the hero of jane eyre in quite the same way again .