The incandescent Dame Peggy Ashcroft shows why she got an Emmy nomination for best actress in a TV movie or miniseries the very same year she ended up winning practically every film award playing another British lady in India in "A Passage to India ". Mrs. Moore in that film was an upper class British lady who had no snobism in her, and here, as Bobbie, she's a middle class British woman whose years as companion to a wealthy British woman has led her to become involved in the drama of that family. Here, a shocking view of something repulsive to her sends her on her way to the worst times of her life, and that's after an encounter with the sonewhat repentant Ronald Merrick (Tim Pigott-Smith) whose physical scars reveal the destruction of a soul he's obviously trying to regain. We get to briefly see the young child of the long deceased Daphne Manners, as well as newsreels of increasing tensions. This is the best episode since the second one, more for Peggy's performance than the goings on, but still exquisite to look at and riveting for the developments in her character. She is this episode, and it's easy to sew here why this British miniseries has a cult following. Geraldine James continues to be the main heroine although she has less footage than Ashcroft, with her main story being her reaction to what has happened to her sister. Once again, Judy Parfit steals every moment with her nasty characters demeanor, reminding audiences of her great performance as Kathy Bates boss in "Dolores Claiborne".
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