The story follows the book pretty closely, adding in just a few 'enhancements', such as Watson's gum-chewing, something he was never prone to do in real life but looked cool when Jeff Goldblum did it.

It shows how Watson became interested in discovering the structure of DNA after seeing a presentation by Wilkins at a conference and how he met up with Crick in Cambridge, where they quickly discovered they both wanted to be working on the same thing. There the fun-loving duo, rather than doing traditional practical science, try to solve the problem by borrowing other people's work, talking to the right experts and using their own noggins.

Contrasted with that is the more desolate situation in London. Franklin, who had been enjoying the intellectual freedoms of 1950s Paris, comes over to set up a crystallography unit working on analysing the structure of DNA.

However, while she thinks she's in charge, Maurice Wilkins thinks she's working for him. Needless to say, the two don't hit it off and work at loggerheads.

The result is that Franklin and Wilkins miss some important results of her analysis while Crick and Watson's more agile, co-operative approach leads to their discovering DNA's structure before those who were actually doing the science.

The scientists then have to come to terms with the fact their quest is over and they might never do anything as important again (another dramatic embellishment since Watson and co knew the results of their findings would only unleash something extraordinary and they could well be part of it).

It's a fantastic piece of work. The performances are spot on, particularly Stevenson's, but even Goldblum is on top form; the direction is gripping, the music by BBC Radiophonic Workshop favourite Peter Howell is evocative and the script intelligent - French people speak French, scientists speak science and everyone's a character rather than a cipher. The Cambridge filming manages to recapture the 1950s without any hints of the changes to the town over the following decades. The science is amazingly detailed and accurate for a drama but is never pitched at a level the audience is unable to cope with. It's just outstanding.

Best of all, Rosalind Franklin, who never got the Nobel Prize for her work since she died before she could be awarded it, finally gets the recognition she deserves.

Start the petitions for a repeat or affordable DVD now!