Viewers divided over Vanity Fair - and some are not happy about the CGI

ITV's new adaptation of Vanity Fair debuted on Sunday night (in direct competition with BBC1's Bodyguard), and drew a mixed reaction from fans on Twitter – with many complaining about the use of CGI in a period drama.

• Vanity Fair review: Olivia Cook dazzles in a pitch-perfect dramatisation
• How different is Vanity Fair from the novel?
• A glittering cast lined up for Vanity Fair

The new seven-part series (based on William Makepeace Thackeray's novel) follows charming antihero Becky Sharp (Olivia Cooke) as she attempts to escape poverty and ascend the heights of English Society.

With such a beloved literary work, expectations are always high, and even the slightest tweak to the source material can lose devotees instantly.

And this seems to have been the case with the drama's decision to introduce its characters with a cover of Bob Dylan's All Along the Watchtower...

But for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction:

The next biggest nit-pick was the implementation of CGI to bring the world of 19th century Britain to life (read more about how it was done here) – followed by some criticism with the way some of the characters looked directly into the camera.

"The way this is going, (contemporary music, overlit, CGI) I wouldn't be surprised to see Becky texting someone soon..." @Alfredoshead wrote. "And stop breaking the fourth wall, it's Thackeray, not Deadpool."

However, despite this wave of criticism, there were plenty of people who were mesmerised by the world created by the show, many of whom reserved particular praise for Olivia Cooke's performance.

"Don't understand all the hate for Vanity Fair," Becca Henderson tweeted. "I really enjoyed it, loved Olivia Cooke, love them breaking the 4th wall now and then and the CGI wasn't so bad. People can't just enjoy anything and relax these days."

Vanity Fair continues on Sunday nights on ITV

This article was originally published on 3 September 2018