You're Tuned In To Radio Circa 1981

Hi! Found you by the common interest of Sebastian Flyte, and hope you don't mind my commenting. I just wanted to say that I think the comparison between Atonement (which I'm sorry to say I haven't read, which might render my opinion obsolete) and Brideshead is not so much for plot aspects, but rather concerning the degeneration of these upper-class houses on account of how war changed the economic landscape of a country long-embroiled in rigid class systems. It's more about seeing the deterioration of their upper-class status through the way the houses crumble from within. Again, I say this without having read Atonement, though somewhat familiar with the gist of the story.

And as for the original BBC mini-series, you'll find that Andrews' and Whishaw's versions of Sebastian are rather different, but I do love the mini-series. Both are splendid in their own ways. Whishaw is a little more pathetic, as in I think you feel a little more strongly for him in the way that you expressed--you just want him to be okay and come back and marry Charles and they can have a thousand babies or something. I think that need for empathy with Sebastian is exaggerated somewhat in the film because it's so short, so you don't have a long time to get to know him. In the mini-series you get to know Sebastian over time, and he really is incredibly sweet. Watch the first episode through and I'm sure you'll find yourself charmed by him--his lines are delivered in that blithe way, like bubbles, as Anthony Blanche describes them.

To be honest, wanting Sebastian to come back has generally been my wish in every medium of the story!