Dirty secrets and lies

This looks and sounds like one of those television dramas that stretches over the otherwise arid expanses of a BBC Saturday night.

Julian Fellowes has based his first feature as director and writer on Nigel Balchin's A Way Through the Wood. It has Tom Wilkinson as James Manning, a nice but dull City lawyer whose younger wife, Emma (Emily Watson), has an affair with William Bule ( Rupert Everett), their upper-crust country neighbour.

The dirty secret comes to light when the cleaner's husband is knocked over and killed by Bule's car - which Emma was driving at the time.

Everyone starts telling lies, including the husband, who loves his wife dearly and tries to protect her from the arms of the law.

The film is more than decently acted but traverses its plot as if fascinated by these tight-arsed English people trying to avoid the consequences of their actions. Plodding is the word, since neither writing nor direction has much spark.

Separate Lies
Cert: cert15