By Demetrios Matheou This pale cinematic version of Evelyn Waugh's novel can't emerge from the shadow of the classic TV adaptation Film Brideshead Revisited Julian Jarrold 132 MINS, 12A How to Lose Friends & Alienate People Robert B Weide 106 MINS, 15 It may seem obvious and a journalistic knee-jerk to compare the first film adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited with the "classic" television series of the Eighties, that is to say with something made 27 years ago and therefore irrelevant to much of the film's audience.

By Joe Riley There's one very good reason why Evelyn Waugh's magnumopus has never been adapted for the big screen before.

THE problem facing a film like this is a classic TV version that still stands the test of time. Made in 1981 and starring a youthful Jeremy Irons and Anthony Andrews, the critically acclaimed and epic 11-hour series became the definitive adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's 1945 novel.

FILM OF THE WEEK BRIDESHEAD REVISITED (12A) Julian Jarrold (133 mins) ** STARRING Matthew Goode, Ben Whishaw, Hayley Atwell It is almost impossible to watch this new version of Brideshead Revisited without the double distraction of what has come before.

By TOBY YOUNG Culture Next Friday sees the release of Brideshead Revisited (pictured), the film version of Evelyn Waugh's famous novel. I haven't seen it and for all I know it is a masterpiece, but the reviews in America, where it came out on 25 July, have been distinctly mixed.