In a new New York Times column entitled “Watching” and carried in its online edition, the paper has an article focusing on four new TV streaming services that specialize in bringing programs from European TV networks to US viewers. These services are intended as upscale competition with the more established streaming services of Netflix and Amazon. Among the new services mentioned is Acorn-TV which is described as like “a big box store for shows from across the Commonwealth” and as the closest equivalent among the four newcomers to “the enveloping Netflix experience.” One of Acorn-TV’s latest offerings is the recent BBC adaptation of Waugh’s novel Decline and Fall. The NY Times provides this preview:
Making its United States premiere on Acorn TV on May 15, this BBC adaptation doesn’t entirely do justice to Evelyn Waugh’s riotous first novel — about the bewildering, hilarious misfortunes of a theology student in 1920s Britain — but it gives you a sense of Waugh’s comic genius that you won’t get from rewatching “Brideshead Revisited.” Jack Whitehall is good as the unfortunate Paul Pennyfeather, and Douglas Hodge, Vincent Franklin and Stephen Graham are excellent as his various tormentors.
The Times article reports that Acorn-TV access costs $4.99 per month or $49.00 yearly and is also be available as an Amazon Prime add-on. There is also a free trial access which might be useful for watching the Decline and Fall adaptation.Â