Blundering right to the happy Howards End
sir – I loved the BBC interpretation of E M Forster’s Howards End, except for the closing shot.
“The grass is coming up like mad,” cries Helen, “It’ll be such a crop of hay as never.” Then they all stride through a field of burgeoning winter wheat.
Rosemary Eustace
Malvern, Worcestershire
sir – Perhaps the worst anachronism in this otherwise excellent adaptation was the scene where Margaret Schlegel was entertained to lunch at Simpson’s in the Strand, in the ground-floor Grand Divan Tavern – its famous dining room.
Women were not allowed to lunch there until as late as 1984, having to use an upstairs room instead. Michael Sumpster
Shaftesbury, Dorset
sir – The spotters of BBC anachronisms have been using Howards End as an opportunity to show off their knowledge – much like those who never fail to report a Union flag being flown upside down.
Howards End is great entertainment, and I expect that most of us were glad that the street scenes were free of horse manure. Denis Jukes
Hastings, East Sussex
sir – What is the obsession with finding fault with period irregularities and background music in Howards End?
Why not just enjoy it for the excellent adaptation and acting? Gill Self
Framlingham, Suffolk
sir – We nitpickers have been having a marvellous time with Howards End. For crying out loud: why could not someone have taught Mr Bast to wear a bowler hat properly?
Pat Cooper
Stoke Bruerne, Northamptonshire