Vanity Fair episode 5 review ★★★★★

One should never speak ill of the dead. Oops.

Horrible Captain Osbourne has died, hurrah. He was shot through the heart on the battlefield at Waterloo whilst leading a strange counterattack against the French that involved lying on the floor and jumping up suddenly, as though red uniforms are any kind of camouflage on green grass. Death comes to Vanity Fair in episode five, but change does not.

After the war, time moves forward quickly. Valiant heroes return to London, cold-hearted fathers hold their grudges, Amelia remains steadfastly in love with her unworthy husband and blind to Dobbin's affections. But then, there's always another good death to look forward to.

Undeniably the battle scenes, which were the focal point of Vanity Fair's episode five, have been a low-point for the ITV series. But this isn't Netflix, or Hollywood, and there are limits to the number of extras and snazzy CGI effects that you should expect from a period drama like this.

Look past the hammy battle-scene deaths and revel in the outrageous behaviour. Admonish soppy Amelia (Claudia Jessie) for collapsing with the sound of the first cannon, shudder at the conniving Mrs Becky Crawley (Olivia Cooke) who showers herself in Jos's (David Flynn) money like a contestant on a game show, and laugh at Jo fussing about with bulging eyes in an array of embroidered waistcoats and dashing off away from the battlefield on the only horses available shouting 'bye hats' as they blow off in the wind. These are the reasons we still love Vanity Fair.