The Mayor of Casterbridge

For my Part, I don't see why men who have got wives shouldn't get rid of' em as these gypsy fellows do their old horses. 18 years have passed since Michael Henchard spoke the words which would haunt him for the rest of his life. Now he is the Mayor of Casterbridge and the wife he sold has returned... Filmed entirely in Hardy's Wessex, with Alan Bates as the hero whose past rises to destroy him, this powerful production opens with the wife-sale from which this tragic tale unfolds. The Mayor of Casterbridge is rich, respected and feared, until two strangers arrive - his wife and her daughter. They set off a chain of events in which they suffer the effects of a town ingrained predjudices and customs, and which lead inexorably to Henchard's downfall. Set in 1840's the vivid and remarkable story that develops has made this one of Hardy's most popular novels, and makes this rich drama compulsive viewing.