In October and November 1997, Channel 4 presented the novel sequence in four television films, with a screenplay by Hugh Whitemore, produced by Peter Amsorge.[75] Widmerpool was played by Simon Russell Beale; in a generally critical review of the first film of the series, Thomas Sutcliffe in The Independent refers to Beale's performance as particularly good, bearing in mind the "thin ledges of characterisation" the script provides to the cast.[76] The journalist David Aaronovitch thought Beale's interpretation of the character definitive: "...the Widmerpool who insinuated his podgy bulk into my private space was ...