Brilliant


This is one of my favourite BBC dramas, love all the characters, even the token old, poor man in the form of Montague Tig. Julia Sawahla is particualy good, and I love Bradley the young servant boy. I am annoyed that this is only out on Region 1 DVD, and the same applies to my other favourite BBC drama, 'Love in a Cold Climate' , which is my opinion is absolutely perfect.

reply

Seconded. What an amazing cast! Our Mutual Friend, which would come out a few years later, is equally stunning.

reply

I agree. I am surprised there are not more comments on here about how good it is!


Cats rule, dogs drool!

reply

Perhaps I'm missing something but I found this to be one of the weaker BBC adaptions... and I've pretty much seen them all!

There were some good characters, however, I just didn't feel engaged with the majority of them like I routinely find I do with the classic BBC productions. That was a shame because it boasts such a terrific cast... but I just felt something was missing. Maybe I shall give it a second chance watch in the near future.

French existential absurdist tragi-comedy rocks! G.Rush

reply

The BBC were on a roll with there costume drama at the time with the success of Pride and Prejudice a few years earlier.

This was a good adaptation, very well acted and the US set bits cut to ribbons!

Its that man again!!

reply

Brilliant indeed. Tom Wilkinson's performance as Pecksniff is masterful. Pete Postlethwaite is astonishing in his dual role, as is Paul Schofield in his.
Keith Allen is totally believable as the villain, while Elizabeth Spriggs as the nurse is so comical and excellent.
The truly sad thing is how many of this cast of extraordinary actors and actresses have since passed away.

reply

Franks's Mr. Pinch deserves a mention and his final words at the end were both melancholy and upbeat at the same time (I know that's an oxymoron).

reply

It's criminal and mystifying why the BBC haven't repeated this (as far as I know). When it was shown I taped the whole series before watching it in one day. My son and I just stretched out with some booze and wallowed in it's brilliance.

reply

Great film adaptation. Beautiful score. Agreed.

My accountant says, "1 + 1, 40% of the time, equals divorce".

reply

Only thing I will criticize is the fact that America in this version is represented in two shots and that's it and I was severely disappointed:(

However I will say that Paul Scofield in this role deserves a Bad Mofo wallet(Pulp Fiction) because he was and nobody can dispute if you seen this movie.

reply

Yes, you're dead right. At the time of writing it has a rating of 7.4 which, to me, is ridiculous: 8.4 is more like it.
The BBC have made quite a few decent series from Dickens since then, but the only one better was Bleak House - fantastic.

reply

Little Dorrit takes some beating too.

reply

Totally brilliant. Tom Wilkinsin played the hypocrite Pecksniff to perfection. And poor Mr. Pinch, the guy that played him was a fantastic juxtaposition to ole pecksniff. RIP To Pete Postelwaite. He was fantastic in this as well. The only weak part (if it can be called that) is the romantic element between Mary and young Martin. But obviously this wasn't the focus of the story.

"What happens to a dream deferred?"

reply


This is one of my favourite BBC dramas, love all the characters, even the token old, poor man in the form of Montague Tig. Julia Sawahla is particualy good, and I love Bradley the young servant boy. I am annoyed that this is only out on Region 1 DVD, and the same applies to my other favourite BBC drama, 'Love in a Cold Climate' , which is my opinion is absolutely perfect.


I believe (but am not certain) that when the BBC does DVD releases, they tend to do region 1 releases, first, then follow it up with a Region 2 release. If that is indeed the case (?), you just needed to wait a bit to see the Region 2 release of Martin Chuzzlewit.

(Although, as near as I can make out, the Region 2 release of MC is purported to be a "rare" [the seller's word, not mine] Dutch import. However, it can't be that rare, as a couple of different sellers are currently flogging them on That Internet Auction site, with one offering it for ~11 quid.)

Same deal with Love in a Cold Climate; I'm guessing you were looking for the Dame Judi Dench version of that one? In any case, both that and the later (i.e. Rosamund Pike) version seem to be available on Region 2 DVD.

I'm guessing you bought both of these DVDs long ago, but I mention it just in case you gave up looking for them before the Region 2 releases came out.





reply