The tale of a young beauty who through a series of misfortunes ends up working as a high-class prostitute, it explores a whole array of sexual practices, including lesbianism and sado-masochism. It also led to the arrest of its author, John Cleland, who was charged at the time of its writing with corrupting the King s subjects. The book, whose full title is Fanny Hill: Memoirs Of A Woman of Pleasure, was banned under obscenity laws in America when attempts were first made to publish it there in 1821.
And it was outlawed in the States for a second time in 1963 when publishers fought to bring it out again. Davies, who shocked the nation with the lesbian romp Tipping the Velvet, adapted from a book of the same name by Pembrokeshire- born author Sarah Waters, said he had his eye on bringing Fanny Hill back to life for some time, calling the work a real labour of love . He said, It s a wonderful book which has been much maligned in the past.
But to my mind it s an entertaining 18th-century novel that contains a tremendous amount of social insight, as well as some very racy bits perfect fodder for me. It is likely to be at least as controversial as Davies s adaptation of the Booker-winning novel The Line of Beauty shown on BBC2 last year, a tale of hedonism and homosexuality set against Margaret Thatcher s 1980s reign as Prime Minister. His compelling screenplays of Tipping the Velvet, Vanity Fair, Wives and Daughters and Pride and Prejudice featuring a memorable scene of Colin Firth s Mr D Arcy emerging dripping wet from a lake have all secured his reputation for turning literature into ratings winners.
Literary purists may have criticised some of the adaptations, but Davies claims he is merely filling in the gaps earlier authors were forced to leave out due to the conventions of their time. Father of two Davies, 69, who lives with wife Cathy in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, said, These authors would have made their sex scenes much clearer, had they known they were going to be read in our times. Davies s adaptation will not be the first time Fanny Hill has been filmed, but the results have varied in quality.
The late Oliver Reed starred in a version made in 1984 which featured British actress Lisa Foster in the title role. And in 1984, sex film producer Russ Meyer made a saucy take on Fanny Hill which carried the tagline: They Said It Couldn t Be Filmed. BBC Four s excess season also includes a documentary, The Curse of Success, which tells Cleland s life and examines his belief that penning Fanny Hill blighted his career and ruined his reputation.
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