In reply to Blue Straggler:
All fair enough. I may have been luckier in the shows of his I caught (also as writer it could be said that he much less control over tone and promotion than it might be thought) and that, as a writer, it says more about the number of successes he had that anyone even notices his involvement.
I do remember the fuss over Pride and Prejudice at the time and it really was all Daily Mail making it sound like it had been made into softcore porn (I doubt the BBC discourage this sort of thing as it must do wonders for viewing figures). I agree that Tipping the Velvet was not 'Leftfield' by any current definition but it certainly stood out at the time and in spite of the assumption, that could easily be made, that it was sold on the sex I don't think that was true of the finished product.
Some interesting comments here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tipping_the_Velvet_(TV_series)
I also heard an extended interview with Sarah Waters on R4 a little while back in which she explained how she came to write the book (rather sweetly out of a desire to write the Victorian novel that spoke to/for her) and how pleased she was with the finished result. (the TV show)
Post edited at 11:12