Bleak House, the British miniseries based on Charles Dickens’ novel, is probably the best BBC production made in 2005. If I had to limit myself to one adjective, “Superb” would be my choice.
This BBC production stars a myriad of actors & actresses – each perfecting their characters. The settings are exactly as we would expect in a work by Dickens. Deep suffering & frustration is depicted in the dark, filthy, and murky scenes which feature the truly poor. The settings which show the lives of the rich are light, airy, opulent: deep, velvety furniture, high ceilings with paintings of finely-clad ancestors, servants with serving platters, etc.
The acting is a treat to watch. Anna Maxwell Martin is refreshingly unaffected as Esther (main character). I had never seen her before seeing Bleak House, and enjoyed her immensely. Denis Lawson does a wonderful job as the grounding “good man” in the production. Gillian Anderson surprised me! She was phenomenal as Lady Dedlock – (not at all Scully-ish!) Nathanial Parker is delightful as a simpering ninny. Warren Clarke (from Dalziel & Pascoe), Burn Gorman, Pauline Collins, and Alren Armstrong were all excellent in their parts — although as a fan of their work, I would have enjoyed seeing more of them!
This Victorian period piece drama is a treat to watch. As with most Dickens’ novels, some of the characters’ names are a delightful surprise. An example of this, Pauline Collins’ “Bird Lady” character is Miss Flite. (I wracked my brain to remember which Dickens’ novel had “Uriah Heep”! >>> David Copperfield)
The screenplay for Bleak House was written by Andrew Davies. If you are a follower/fan of fine British television productions, you no doubt recognize his name. He is responsible for the screenplays of many top-notch British productions.
I strongly recommend this production of Bleak House. It is currently on BritBox.
P.S. This is not a mystery – well, actually, there is a mystery of sorts… but it’s not a traditional “mystery show.”
Hmmm, have you ever heard of Christmas in March? Well, it looks like the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel started a new March tradition. (Actually, let’s hope not!) I know this channel celebrates Christmas in July every year (showing us the same old Hallmark Christmas movies) however, this year it looked like someone got confused in March.
What can I say? I know a lot of you are going to be super disappointed to find out that there are no Cozy Mystery movies premiering during the first four weeks of March 2020 on the Hallmark Movies and Mysteries channel. However, I also know that some of you enjoy watching the same movies multiple times. Because I do each month’s schedule in a sort of piece-meal way (since the channel only posts three weeks at a time on their schedule) there’s still hope there may be at least one new movie this month – on the last Sunday of the month. I’ll hurry up and post the final three days of March of the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel’s schedule as soon as I can. Here’s hoping there will be at least one new Cozy Mystery movie…