Adaptations for stage and screen, and ...

[Lee]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/wor...

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

Interesting! Thanks Lee :)

[[deleted user]]

In the past couple of weeks, I watched David Copperfield (the version with Daniel Radcliffe) and The Pickwick Papers (1985 BBC). Loved both of them so much.

I loved the cast in DC - everyone was just perfect. I cried buckets during the sad parts and laughed until I cried at the funny parts ("Janet! Donkeys!").

TPP was also well done. Mr Pickwick and Sam were played just as I imagined them from reading the novel. Loved this one, too - I adore older BBC productions. Lovely, uncomplicated sets and costumes, no super duper special effects. Just great quality programs.

Recommend both to anyone interested. In the US - DC was free to watch through Amazon Prime. TPP was available through my BritBox subscription.

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

I love all these too, Cozy_Pug! Thank you for sharing.

When we get get far enough on in Bleak House, there are two excellent miniseries of that too! I do hope you'll have finished The Old Curiousity Shop in time to join us on 26th :)

[[deleted user]]

Bionic Jean wrote: "I love all these too, Cozy_Pug! Thank you for sharing.

When we get get far enough on in Bleak House, there are two excellent miniseries of that too! I do hope you'll have finished [bo..."

Thanks for the information on the Bleak House adaptations. I look forward to those!

I just finished a brilliant 1994 BBC adaptation of Martin Chuzzlewit (book links aren't working for me tonight, sorry). The book was astoundingly wonderful and this adaptation was fantastic - one of the best Dickens adaptations I've seen. Stellar acting from everyone and the adaptation was fairly faithful to the book. I watched this on BritBox.

Super fun tidbit - the lovely actor John Mills played a character in this Chuzzlewit series. He also played the adult Pip in a wonderful 1946 film adaptation of Great Expectations.

[Sue]

Someday I will probably sign up for BritBox. Then I can watch some of the adaptations I haven’t caught up with yet.

Glad you enjoyed Martin Chuzzlewits . Another on my long Dickens list.

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

Yes, the BBC's is definitely the best one of Martin Chuzzlewit, Cozy_Pug. They mess about with the story's order, and miss out quite a lot of characters, but it's hard to know how to do it otherwise! You'll see what I mean when/if we ever get to read Martin Chuzzlewit as a group :)

[[deleted user]]

Sue wrote: "Someday I will probably sign up for BritBox. Then I can watch some of the adaptations I haven’t caught up with yet.

Glad you enjoyed Martin Chuzzlewits . Another on my long Dickens list."

I really enjoy BritBox, Sue. We don't have cable or satellite or anything, and I'm not a TV watcher much anyway. BB is perfect for me. I love watching the BBC adaptations of classic novels. And some of the older comedy shows like Keeping Up Appearances. I really enjoy my BB subscription.

[[deleted user]]

Bionic Jean wrote: "Yes, the BBC's is definitely the best one of Martin Chuzzlewit, Cozy_Pug. They mess about with the story's order, and miss out quite a lot of characters, but it's hard to know how to do..."

I hope we do read it as a group!

[Sue]

I do have cable, Cozy _Pug, and Netflix, and I still don’t watch that much because I read more and watch other things. Right now I’m watching the Boston Celtics basketball game. I have eclectic tastes and get lost in them.

[Judy]

I've just tried watching some of the 1959 BBC adaptation of Bleak House, which I was given on DVD a while back. I often like older black-and-white versions of classics, but have to say I found this one hard to watch and have now given up on it, at least for the time being. The picture quality is quite poor and some of the acting rather stagey, although it is good to see Wilfrid Brambell of Steptoe & Son fame playing Krook.

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

Thanks Judy - I agree - but thanks for trying it again!

I give my thoughts on the different adaptations of Bleak House LINK HERE

For anyone wondering, it's probably safe to start one of these now, as we are coming up to the mid-point of the novel :)

[Judy]

Thanks Jean! I once went to a talk in London about memories of making these early BBC drama productions, which were filmed as live with people dashing around the back of the set for their next entrance! Oddly, I think the b/w Our Mutual Friend is better than this old version of Bleak House, despite being made slightly earlier.

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

Oh I would have loved to be there Judy! And I don't remember that dramatisation of Our Mutual Friend at all! I do like both the recent BBC series and the radio serial of it though.

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

I was given a DVD set of Dombey and Son for Christmas. It stars Julian Glover and Lysette Anthony and is from 1983. I probably saw it then, but not since!

Has Santa brought anyone else DVDs or tickets to some performance of a work by Charles Dickens this year?

[Melanie]

Bionic Jean wrote: "I was given a DVD set of Dombey and Son for Christmas. It stars Julian Glover and Lysette Anthony and is from 1983. I probably saw it then, but not si..."

Hi Jean hope you had a lovely Christmas!

I wasn't gifted any Dickens, but I tried and can recommend the wonderful Simon Vance audio edition of A Christmas Carol as a way to squeeze in my reread of the book this year - beautifully read, and an unabridged edition (approx 3 hrs long if memory serves) https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/A-Christ...

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

Oh yes that sounds about right. They were doing a reading of it from the Charles Dickens museum this month. And don't forget our current read of the Christmas book The Cricket on the Hearth everyone, with Petra, who has some great info LINK HERE.

Thanks Melanie - and you too! I'm watching a DVD miniseries of The Old Curiosity Shop at the moment from 2007, but I'm not very impressed with it. There are 3 other versions though, so they may go on my Christmas long list for the future, so I can forget about them.

[Jane]

For those who like to listen to audio dramatisations, there is a fun version of our group's next read, Somebody's Luggage, available for free from Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It is produced by The Audio Drama Show. I've skimmed through it and it seems to be a clear and lively performance.

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

Thank you Jane - that's really useful! I'm sure Plateresca will be interested!

[Plateresca]

Oh yes, I've found these, too! I will post the links to them when I do the preliminary post. Unfortunately, they haven't recorded all the stories, but what they have is really enjoyable, isn't it?

[Jane]

Plateresca wrote: "Oh yes, I've found these, too! I will post the links to them when I do the preliminary post. Unfortunately, they haven't recorded all the stories, but what they have is really enjoyable, isn't it?"

I haven't listened to anything yet, I wouldn't want to hear any spoilers! I'm looking forward to listening after the group reading. Yes, do post the links. I'm sure the group will enjoy them, too!

[Michael]

https://youtu.be/QN6hchvzwjA

I hope this post finds you well.

A full trailer has been released for the newest adaptation of "Great Expectations". This is a co-production between FX and the BBC. Given past experience with FXs other period drama productions, for example, "Taboo", one is not surprised this version of the Dickens' novel appears to easily top the 1999 version with Charlotte Rampling and Ioan Gruffudd in darkness and bleakness.
As an example, the trailer has a clip of Miss Havisham appearing to smoke opium.

[Plateresca]

Michael wrote: "https://youtu.be/QN6hchvzwjA"
Oh my! The trailer is very impressive, thank you for sharing this!
I am not sure I really want to see more than the trailer, though %)

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

Hi Michael, thanks so much for sharing this. I think Great Expectations must have been dramatised more often than anything else Charles Dickens ever wrote (except A Christmas Carol!) I can't remember how many adaptations I've seen/heard, but this one does look intriguing and powerful. Hopefully they haven't take too many liberties, but just looked at the subtext to interpret it differently.

Not sure I'd go to the cinema for it - but would definitely give it a try on TV!

I hope you'll be with us for our March/April read, Michael 😊

[Karin]

I do have a favourite film rendition of a book, because it's the one that got me to finally read and enjoy the novel. I loved the casting and how it was done and don't even care of not all of the characters looked like they were supposed to. It's the only one I've seen of this book, but it's the 2022 Nicholas Nickeby with Charles Hunnam in the title role. Among the many find actors, I loved the way Timothy Spall and Gerard Horan played the Cheerybles. I've only seen it once and read the book in late 2016, so I'm rusty on the details, but IMDB helped.

[Michael]

More information about this FX and BBC co-production of "Great Expectations". I am a reactionary when it comes to period dramas. In my mind, a cardinal sin is the crime of presentism; silencing the voices of the past, in favor of imposing our own fetishes and obsessions. The creative talent admit they are guilty of presentism:

The BBC has injected a strong anti-colonial message into its adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic novel Great Expectations, it has been revealed.

Knight also reportedly told his cast that the adaptation would aim to remove the stiffness long associated with Victorian Britain.

Still set in the 19th century, the 1861 novel has been adapted into a slightly more modern drama which creators hope will attract new audiences to it.

The show's lead actor, Ffion Whitehead, expressed his hope that the BBC's dramatisation will make the canonical novel 'more accessible for younger people'.

The same attitude ruined Netflix's adaptation of Jane Austen's "Persuasion", which was universally panned.

I watch period dramas to escape the modern world. I did not waste my time with Netflix's "modern" "Persuasion". I will not waste my time with this cultural vandalism against Dickens. There are plenty of other adaptations of the novel I can watch that attempt to stay true to the source material and the Victorians as they were, not as we would like them to be.

What is so "stiffy" about the world portrayed in "Great Expectations"?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz...

[Werner]

Well said, Michael!

[Katy]

I agree Michael. I do not like it when screenwriters make changes to the personalities of our beloved characters and the plots of our beloved stories to make them appeal to a younger audience. Usually the reason I watch an adaptation is because I love the book the way it is and want to see it portrayed on the screen as closely as possible.

[Plateresca]

Michael, I'm with you on this!
I've watched the trailer for the latest "Persuasion" and this was enough for me.
And while I'm at it, The ABC Murders with John Malkovich looked like the creators hated Agatha Christie.

Well, this leaves us more time for books, right? :)

Katy, yes, right, and if somebody wants to show a different story, why don't they give it a different title, too, so that people are not deceived that this is an adequate representation of the source material.

[Laura Cort]

The BBC used to do really good adaptations of Agatha Christie, but the most recent ones have changed the plots a lot and I find it unnecessary.

[Michael]

If you want to see the following, then the upcoming FX and BBC adaptation of "Great Expectations" is for you:

1: Opium smoking Miss Havisham
2: Mr. Pumblechook participating in S&M activities
3: Inserting an anti-imperialist message that is not in the text

For me, all the above are acts of cultural vandalism from a hack who think he is being so clever and edgy.

Am I surprised the cultural vandals have started to tear down Dickens no, feeling rage inside yes.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz...

[Karin]

Laura Cort wrote: "The BBC used to do really good adaptations of Agatha Christie, but the most recent ones have changed the plots a lot and I find it unnecessary."

I hate it when the plots are changed. This happens all the time with children's books. I do laugh at myself over this (it rarely comes across in my posts, but IRL I have quite a good sense of humour and do laugh at myself a lot) but I was not pleased when we saw the Curious George movie because I had always wanted the man with the yellow hat to marry that lovely nurse in Curious George Goes to the Hospital.

[Sue]

I just finished Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver’s reimagining of Dickens’ David Copperfield. It’s set in roughly contemporary Appalachia beset by twin scourges of rampant unemployment with poverty and a burgeoning drugs epidemic. Different causal events than in Dickens day, but similar results: children with absent or poor parenting, minimal social services, orphans fending for themselves much of the time.
The parallels are beautifully done…love Mr. Dick and Aunt Betsey. The lyrical descriptions of the natural world help to offset the many sadnesses. Kingsolver does the young male narrator’s voice so well.

[Michael]

Not sure if this is the proper place to post. There will be a video game starring Ebenezer Scrooge as a Victorian Mario Bros. Below is the description and trailer:

Ebenezer and The Invisible World is a 2D Metroidvania platformer adventure game where players will embody the miser-turned-hero Ebenezer Scrooge. The game is a reimagined Victorian fantasy based on A Christmas Carol where players can enlist the help of ghosts to save the people of London. Ebenezer and The Invisible World is coming soon to PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series S|X, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhge_...

The ladies in the trailer are wearing bustles dating the game to the 1870s. That would be around 30 years after the publishing of "A Christmas Carol". Scrooge sure is spry for someone so advanced in years.

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

Not sure how I missed that - thanks Michael - it sounds fun!

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

I've just come across a new "zippy" spin-off 8-part TV series from Oliver Twist called "The Artful Dodger" and set in Australia! I wonder if Janelle has heard of this one 😊

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-ra...

I like the premise that because he was a cheeky pickpocket and dextrous with his hands, Jack Dawkins would make a great (view spoiler)[entertainer surgeon, in the Victorian tradition! (hide spoiler)].

I can remember the lead actor, Thomas Brodie-Sangster as a youngster as "Peter Pan" in my favourite film of it. That one was done straight, but this clearly isn't! I hope we can access it in the UK eventually, but it is on the Disney channel (so I probably can't).

[Janelle]

No I don’t know anything about it, I don’t have Disney either.
Sounds like something I’d watch if I could!

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

Let's hope it gets a wider airing eventually!

[Curt]

You might like my spin-off books where Ebenezer Scrooge and Bob Cratchit become reluctant detectives and are joined by a clever pickpocket who is very important to literary history. All 3 Scrooge and Cratchit, Detectives books are online.

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

Well it looks as if "The Artful Dodger" is going to be on BBC soon, so hopefully will reach everyone eventually! https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-ra...

[Janelle]

Jean I think that’s a different show to the one set in Australia.
It’s ‘Dodger’ based on Terry Pratchett’s book, so a prequel not a sequel :)

[Janelle]

Correction, I can’t find anywhere that it is based on Pratchett’s book, but it is a different show.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodger_...

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

Oh! It's certainly not Dodger by Terry Pratchett, as you discovered. That one is neither a prequel nor a sequel but a sort of re-imagining with some actual people whom Charles Dickens knew. I thought was wonderful and clever, (though I seem to remember you weren't that keen) and gave it 5 stars! If anyone would like to read my full review, please LINK HERE. Actually Dodger had been dramatised before, although I didn't see it. And the story of the series I mentioned before sounds very different.

But you're right Janelle that it is different from the 8-part TV series I mentioned, as the lead actor is a Billy Jenkins. (It would help if the Guardian made the the title a bit clearer! 🙄) "It sounds supremely funny, star-packed delight" led me astray as they sound so similar! Thanks.

And I will give this one a try anyway, since the reviews are so good 😊

(For those who are confused, there are 3 dramatisations here, all spin-offs from the Dodger character in Oliver Twist.)

[Curt]

I wish my Scrooge and Cratchit. Detectives mysteries were made into movies. Most everyone loves them.
I love all the movies made about A Christmas Carol, though some are better than others. Even Mr. Magoo did a good Ebenezer.
In my books that occur after A Christmas Carol, Scrooge is bantered into becoming a detective against his will.

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

Curt - just a reminder about our rule 6. "No authors' promotions are allowed. If you promote your book anywhere in the group, then the post will be deleted."

Both post 189 and 194 are technically self-promotion, but I have allowed a little leeway with these (and some earlier ones), as you try to relate them to the discussion underway. We wish you luck with your books, but please do not be surprised if further self-promotion is deleted.

[Katy]

I just watched the 1998 version of Our Mutual Friend and thought it was excellent. It followed the book very well, although at times I thought I would not have known what was going on if I hadn't read the book first. But I think it must be very difficult to make a complex work like this into a six hour film.

In addition, the DVD I watched contained a very good documentary with background information on life in London during the Victorian era as it related to the story. It also mentioned aspects of Dickens own life and how it affected his writing.

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

I like that one very much too, Katy! I can't remember if it had ever been dramatsied before, (except for a very good BBC radio version a couple of years earlier) but it was true to the book 😊

[Janelle]

As a Dickens and PJ Harvey fan, I’m really intrigued by this:

https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/pr...

I hope it gets filmed or something for those of us on the other side of the world!

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

That's fascinating, thanks Janelle!

I'm not sure whether it will be filmed as the Lyttelton is not the main theatre, (it seats 890) https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/yo... but part of the National Theatre complex. But I guess it will depend how popular it is 😊

[Ruth]

There is a spectacular play adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities that was written by Brendan Pelsue and made its debut this year, actually. If you ever get a chance to read or see it, it has my highest reccommendation.