The Woman in White

The Woman in White is the fifth published novel by Wilkie Collins, written in 1860 and set between the years 1849 and 1850. Its initial publication began on 26 November 1859 in serial form, appearing in All the Year Round (UK), the magazine edited by Charles Dickens, and in Harper’s Weekly (US). Serialization concluded on 25 August 1860, though the novel was released in book form ten days earlier.

While the novel was a major commercial success, contemporary critics were often hostile toward it. Over time, however, The Woman in White has come to be regarded by many modern critics and readers as Collins’s finest work.

In September 1966, the BBC aired a six-part television adaptation of The Woman in White, scripted by Michael Voysey. The Radio Times introduced the series to its audience with the following preview:

“The Prince Consort commended her highly; Gladstone approved; she had clothes, perfumes, a hairbrush, and two popular dances named after her. ‘She’ was The Woman in White.”

Widely considered the first true thriller written in English, the novel’s tense, intricately plotted story of love, deception, and murder captivated Victorian readers. The narrative follows Walter Hartright, a young drawing teacher who is engaged to instruct the nieces of Frederick Fairlie (Geoffrey Bayldon) at Limmeridge House in Cumberland. Walter falls in love with the gentle and beautiful Laura Fairlie, but also becomes close to her intelligent and courageous half-sister, Marian Halcombe. It is Marian to whom he recounts a strange encounter: late one night in London, Walter meets a mysterious woman dressed entirely in white who seems distressed and reveals intimate knowledge of Limmeridge House and its occupants.

Walter later discovers that this woman is Anne Catherick, a mentally disabled woman who had once lived near Limmeridge and was deeply devoted to Laura’s late mother—who had dressed her in white as a child. Remarkably, Laura bears a striking physical resemblance to Anne.

However, Laura is already engaged to Sir Percival Glyde (John Barron). Upon learning this, Marian urges Walter to leave Limmeridge. Before the marriage, Laura receives an anonymous letter warning her not to marry Glyde. Walter suspects the letter was sent by Anne, whom he later encounters again in Cumberland. He begins to suspect that Glyde is responsible for Anne's earlier confinement in an asylum.

Glyde tries to pressure Laura into signing a legal document that would allow him access to her £20,000 marriage settlement—something she refuses to do. Meanwhile, Anne, now terminally ill, travels to Blackwater Park and informs Laura that she knows a secret that could ruin Glyde. Before she can reveal this secret, Glyde discovers their communication and becomes increasingly paranoid and controlling.

Faced with both Laura’s refusal to part with her fortune and Anne’s dangerous knowledge, Glyde conspires with his sinister associate, Count Fosco (Francis De-Wolff). Exploiting the physical resemblance between Laura and Anne, they hatch a devious plot: they will deceive both women into traveling with them to London. Anne, close to death, will be buried under Laura’s name, while Laura will be committed to an asylum under Anne’s identity. The plan is nearly successful.

In this 1966 BBC production, Laura Fairlie and Anne Catherick—the dual roles—were played by Jennifer Hilary, a stage and film actress who brought a quiet intensity to both parts. Born in Frimley, Camberley, Surrey, Hilary trained at RADA and began her professional career at the Liverpool Playhouse in April 1961, at the age of 18. Following her work on The Woman in White, she appeared extensively on British television in both dramas and serials, including Pie in the Sky and Midsomer Murders. Her film work included Becket (1964), directed by Peter Glenville, and Anthony Mann’s action-adventure film The Heroes of Telemark (1965).

Marian Halcombe—Laura’s half-sister and the novel’s bold and intelligent co-heroine—was portrayed by Middlesbrough-born actress Alethea Charlton, a familiar face on British television by 1966. She had previously appeared in episodes two, three, and four of the first-ever Doctor Who serial in 1963, playing the cavewoman Hur. Charlton’s other TV credits included Hereward the Wake, Z Cars, Upstairs, Downstairs, and a recurring three-year role in the Granada drama Sam.

Walter Hartright, the morally upright Victorian hero, was played by Nicholas Pennell, who was a regular presence on British film and television during the 1960s. His credits included roles in The Saint, The Flaxton Boys, and The Forsyte Saga, where he played Michael Mont. He also appeared in six episodes of Doctor Who titled Colony in Space. Later in life, Pennell emigrated to Stratford, Ontario, Canada, where he became a mainstay of the renowned Stratford Festival.

A review in The Stage (13 October 1966) by N. Alice Frick praised the BBC's commitment to adapting literary classics, writing:

‘The Woman in White justifies the continuation of an honourable tradition.’ She noted that condensing the leisurely pace of the original novel into six 25-minute episodes required a plot-heavy approach: ‘Michael Voysey’s adaptation got on with it pretty ruthlessly.’ Frick also praised the production design, commenting: ‘Desmond Chinn has designed handsomely authentic sets.’ However, she criticized the direction, writing:
‘Brandon Acton-Bond directs with an equal sense of period and its manners, but one regrets his practice of beginning scenes with his actors in tableaux, moving only after the camera is on them—a practice that interrupts the flow of a tightly plotted piece and gives it an unfortunate static quality.’

Over the years, The Woman in White has been adapted several times for television, with each version offering a fresh interpretation of this suspenseful and psychologically rich tale. Its enduring appeal continues to captivate new audiences. Notable adaptations include a 1982 production starring Ian Richardson and Jenny Seagrove, and a 2018 Netflix version featuring Jessie Buckley, Ben Hardy, Art Malik, and Charles Dance.

Unfortunately, the 1966 BBC adaptation appears to be lost, a victim of the Corporation’s mid-20th-century archival purges that saw many programmes erased or discarded.

Laurence Marcus