Its members have benefited mightily from the series and here, I counted 16 who might routinely expect to headline elsewhere, so many indeed that many of Emma Thompson's best scenes appear in the DVD's 'additional scenes'. As much as JK Rowling has been a godsend for child literacy, Equity too should offer up prayers to the novelist nightly. It's also a little more thoughtful and less whizzbang, but these are minor changes of degree in a series that has continuity as a primary strength, and has yet to dole out a disappointing episode.
A rather more straightforward Potter than we've been used to, The Order of the Phoenix is directed by David Yates, who will also be in charge of The Half-Blood Prince and, following the darker take of Mike Newell and Alfonso Cuarón, this seems a little less fraught and shadowy.
