Tuesday 28 July
9.00-10.00pm BBC TWO
John Ruskin (Tom Hollander) takes an interest in the work of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood

John Ruskin (Tom Hollander) takes an interest
in the work of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood

The most exciting young artists of their day, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, continue in their quest for credibility, celebrity and success this week, as this lively new drama for BBC Two, starring Aidan Turner, Rafe Spall, Samuel Barnett and Sam Crane and written by Peter Bowker, continues. With the help of their new friend, journalist Fred Walters, the group have caught the attention of the pre-eminent art critic of the day, John Ruskin, and now have to persuade him to buy their work.

The prodigious and impossibly talented John Millais sets about rustling up a “masterpiece” to show Ruskin. The work is Ophelia, and he chooses model Lizzie Siddal to sit for him. Rossetti, who is convinced that he is nothing without Lizzie as his muse, is furious with Millais for taking her from under his nose. Hunt, meanwhile, attempts a masterpiece of his own, with street girl Annie Miller once again sitting for him.

Having lost his virginity to Annie, Hunt remains unable to resist her charms and is cast into turmoil as he battles with his strong religious belief and conflicting sexual desire. Everything in the Brothers’ world comes crashing to a halt, however, when Lizzie falls unconscious with pneumonia while posing as Ophelia in a bath of cold water – Millais, distracted by thoughts of Ruskin’s beautiful young wife, Effie, had failed to notice Lizzie sinking into a decline. As Lizzie’s life hangs in the balance, so does Millais’s masterpiece – and, thereby, the Brotherhood’s most promising chance of gaining recognition. However, Rossetti no longer cares about the future of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood as he contemplates a future without the woman he loves.

Fred Walters is played by Sam Crane; John Ruskin by Tom Hollander; John Millais by Samuel Barnett; Lizzie Siddal by Amy Manson; Dante Gabriel Rossetti by Aidan Turner; William Holman Hunt by Rafe Spall; Annie Miller by Jennie Jacques; and Effie Ruskin by Zoë Tapper.

Desperate Romantics is simulcast on the BBC HD channel – the BBC’s High Definition channel, available through Freesat, Sky and Virgin Media.