Harriet Warner on ‘Dangerous Liaisons’: ‘I had to be sure there was something new to say’ 

The creator of the web series says while a series gives you the luxury of time to explore characters, it also comes with the scrutiny of an incredibly sophisticated audience 

Since its publication in 1782, Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ epistolary novel, Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons), has been adapted for stage, print, opera, television and film including Stephen Frears’ Dangerous Liaisons (1988) starring Glenn Close, John Malkovich, Michelle Pfeiffer and Uma Thurman. Cruel Intentions (1999) relocated the action to modern-day New York and starred Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Selma Blair and Reese Witherspoon.

And now comes an eight-episode mini-series, Dangerous Liaisons, created by Harriet Warner starring Nicholas Denton, Alice Englert and Lesley Manville among others. When she came aboard this project, Harriet says she wondered what it was about the story that prompted the various adaptations over 300 years.

Speaking from Brighton in England over a video call, she says, “I returned to the book because I had to be sure that there was something new to say, especially in the medium of television where you have the luxury of time to explore character but also the scrutiny of an incredibly sophisticated audience.”

When Harriet looked again at the Laclos’ novel, she was struck by the universal themes. “It is about class, sex, power and desire and ultimately about a woman navigating a man’s world alongside this extraordinary, provocative love story. I thought, wow, these themes still feel very relevant.”

In terms of history, she says, we live in quite a divided time. “There is a gulf between the rich and poor. In a weird way, in terms of the political and the personal, there is a real connection still. That is the eternal power of Dangerous Liaisons. Humanity does not change, and that is why the novel still has such an impact.”

Wanting the show to feel authentic to the period, Harriet wondered if she should go down the contemporary route a la Cruel Intentions or stay true to the time. “The only thing I did in terms of altering the period was to move it slightly later to make it the same as when the book was published, which is about 20 years later than when the novel is set.”