Anything that can help the brain override Kate Bush's song, surely one of the most penetrative in pop history, is a blessing.
So the answer to whether we need a new screen version of Wuthering Heights (TV One, last night 8.30pm) is yes please, give us some fresh associations for the Emily Bronte classic.
Britain's ITV might have its financial woes but you can't say it is unduly afraid of taking on the big ones: not only does it roam freely in the heart of BBC territory - the costume drama/literary adaptation - but the doomed gothic romance between the wilful Cathy and the wild Heathcliff has also been voted Britain's greatest love story, according to some pollsters.
Even without adaptation king Andrew Davies on the case, we could expect the populist channel to milk all that mad passion, and add a soap opera star to tempt the mass audience: and so it was in last night's first of two parts.
Well, it sexed things up somewhat with a roll in the heather, but the mad passion was perhaps a little less convincing, not least because the leap-frogging plot seemed to interrupt any chemistry developing between the leads.
The challenge was going to be finding a star to live up to that scintillating character who, in the words of a colleague, inspired years of bad boyfriend choices. Actor Tom Hardy had it all to carry, from his turn in the opening sequence as the benighted master of Wuthering Heights scaring Cathy's daughter with his warped marriage scheme, to the young man seized by love, jealousy and betrayal.
Little wonder that at times the poor chap looked a touch fatigued with all the eyebrow-beetling brooding, and smouldering come-heather - I mean, hither - looks the role required. All free-flying hair and rumpled clothes, Charlotte Riley caught the energy of the hoyden Cathy and the self-doubt as she loses her way. Riley also managed to deliver the classic lines - "I am Heathcliff" - with aplomb.
Stars of the support cast include Andrew Lincoln making his Edgar Linton a convincingly tempting refuge for the confused Cathy, despite his pomposity. And as the villain Hindlay, Burn Gorman did as fine a job as he did as Guppy in last year's Bleak House. Soap star Sarah Lancashire didn't seem to have much to do as Nurse Nelly except to broaden the audience.
ITV also laid on a gothic manor, all stony windswept facade, dark recesses and squeaky floorboards. Its budget for the lowering skies alone must have beenimpressive. There were a few lumps in story-telling, but this earthy drama was "moor-ish" enough to want to return next week.
<i>TV review:</i> 'Moorish' love story stands test of time
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