In the latest episode of theĀ ITV sitcom Vicious, starring Derek Jacobi and Ian McKellen as a elderlyĀ gayĀ couple, Evelyn Waugh makes an appearance. Ā In this episode (No. 4 of the current series) the couple are contemplating marriage after being together for over 50 years. The wedding planner asks StuartĀ (played by Jacobi) Ā for hisĀ ideas aboutĀ theĀ scope of the event. StuartĀ responds that he is thinking, “Summer meets Evelyn Waugh meets Paris in the twenties,” no doubt having in mindĀ the parties described in Vile Bodies, or perhaps in the early pages of Brideshead Revisited. Shortly thereafter (spoiler alert) Stuart learns that his companion Freddie (an actor played by McKellen) has failed to land an important partĀ that would have produced the income needed to pay for an event that would have fulfilled Stuart’s Wavian expectations. The episode canĀ be viewed online on itvPlayer. Ā A proxy server connection is needed outside the UK.Ā The first series of this program was also broadcast in the U.S. by some PBS stations and was issuedĀ on DVD, so this current series may also become available from those sources.
