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Dickensian

(194 Posts)
Gagagran Thu 07-Jan-16 20:47:12

I really think this is so good a series that it deserves a thread of its own despite being mentioned in passing in another thread.

Everything about it is excellent from the costumes, the scenery and dialogue. Above all though is the perfectly cast characters - all of whom seem to look exactly as they should! I think Inspector Bucket is my special favourite but all of them have the faces and bearing and delivery of the lines exactly as they should have.

The clever knitting together of so many Dickens' characters is brilliant and I shall be so sorry when it ends. I think the great man himself would be very pleased if only he could see it.

nigglynellie Sun 21-Feb-16 18:04:37

Oh poor woman!! Surely a fate worse than death!!!

Gagagran Sun 21-Feb-16 20:26:47

Well that's it folks and the villain got his marching orders but I am worried about Arthur on the roof. Just hope there is a second series. Inspector Bucket did tell Mr Venus a little about the latest case which has been allocated to him so maybe that was an indication that there will be. Fingers crossed!

What a triumph this has been with a first class parade of some of the finest character actors in the UK. I am really sad it's finished. sad

merlotgran Sun 21-Feb-16 20:33:13

I'm going to miss it as well. I liked the way the loose ends were neatly tied up with convincing links to the books.

Great performances.

whitewave Sun 21-Feb-16 21:16:29

I missed the episode - that dealt with the baby. What happened to her?

Jayh Sun 21-Feb-16 23:43:37

I love this series.
There are so many possible storylines to develop that this could run for a long time. Please, BBC, can we have some more?

Nana3 Mon 22-Feb-16 00:55:19

whitewave the baby was a girl, she appeared to be stillborn, Honoria thought she was, but she later revived . Francis didn't tell Honoria this, she pretended to be going out to bury the baby but she gave her to a man who we found out in tonight's episode was Jaggers.

whitewave Mon 22-Feb-16 07:29:18

Oh I didn't miss anything then! I thought we had been told where she had gone. Thank you☺

J52 Mon 22-Feb-16 08:16:01

I suspect the last scene ( don't want to give anything away in case some have not watched yet) was an opening to another series.

I do hope so, it's been one of the best programmes for a long time?

x

Gagagran Mon 22-Feb-16 08:34:41

I am guessing that the baby is given to Amelia Havisham by Jaggers, to get her out of her depression over her non-wedding. She will be called Estella and that keeps the bones of the Dickens story going while developing new ones.

I really hope the BBC realise what a great series this has been and commission another one.

pollyparrot Mon 22-Feb-16 09:07:29

We've really enjoyed this series. I would like more but the stories all seemed to finish where the books start, so I'm not sure how it could work.

Marelli Mon 22-Feb-16 09:41:28

Remind me? The necklace that was given to Jaggers (that belonged to the baby's mother - her name escapes me just now) - in which of Dickens' books was a mother's necklace given to an orphaned child? Is it David Copperfield or Great Expectations? confused

Welshwife Mon 22-Feb-16 09:59:49

I think it was Great Expectations - Pip and the lovely Joe Gargary his brother in law. I have not watched this series as could not get to grips with the characters in a different bit of story

merlotgran Mon 22-Feb-16 10:24:16

The baby is called Esther and ends up in Bleak House with a Jarndyce for a guardian.

Lilygran Mon 22-Feb-16 10:32:59

Honoria's baby is (will be?) Esther Summers from Bleak House. Inspector Bucket knows about Lady Dedlock's illegitimate baby but Lady Dedlock doesn't know who she is. And Oliver Twist's mother's necklace was stolen from her by the nurse in the workhouse after she died and then by Mrs Bumble. We decided trying to tie up the Dickensian version with the original was too confusing.Like Pride and Prejudice and zombies.

nigglynellie Mon 22-Feb-16 10:41:40

I think , in the pub, I heard Mr Pickwicks name mentioned?! That and Inspector Buckets new case, together with Dodger taking Oliver under his wing, MIGHT indicate a new series! Fingers crossed! ?

trisher Mon 22-Feb-16 10:52:21

I never got to grips with this. I disliked the idea that all Dickens' characters could be confined to a small geographical area. So can someone tell me was Miss Haversham sent off to Kent and Rochester where the original Satis house was (is)? One of the features of Dickens is his description of the area where the story is set and Great Expectations is definitely Kent marshes not the London underworld.

jinglbellsfrocks Mon 22-Feb-16 10:58:40

It was just a bit of lightweight winter entertainment trish. It felt quite Christmassy when it started. You could be overthinking it. grin

trisher Mon 22-Feb-16 11:28:54

Probably but I never got beyond the third episode I kept thinking "No No No Miss Haversham can't live there!!!" Silly I know. I did catch the final scene and just thought you could tell it was written by an Eastenders writer. Respectable Victorian women in a public house listening to a prostitute singing? I think not!! Old Vic?- well yes!

nigglynellie Mon 22-Feb-16 12:40:30

Well I loved it and I don't think it was supposed to be a true reflection of the books, more a clever intertwining of characters from several books. As a Dickens fan, I started out not expecting to enjoy it at all, but was agreeably surprised. I think it was the superb acting that made it so enjoyable, and I hope we have a sequel. Marleys ghost was making some, well, ghostly moanings in last night's episode, so I have a gut feeling there may be more to come! smile

jinglbellsfrocks Mon 22-Feb-16 13:02:20

Yes. I agree there were parts that were definitely not Dickensian.

trisher Mon 22-Feb-16 13:09:34

One of the reasons Dickens was so popular was that he wrote about the darker side of society where respectable people didn't go, but loved to read about. From what i saw this blurred the boundaries a bit too much.
Where Miss Haversham really lived www.restorationhouse.co.uk/

Gagagran Mon 22-Feb-16 13:28:50

It's Havisham not Haversham and I think nigglynellie has put her finger on it. It's not meant to be a continuation of the any of the books it's just using some of the well-known characters and a few strands of the original plots to combine into another and different storyline. It's very clever the way it's been done.

nigglynellie Mon 22-Feb-16 13:43:44

Well, yes trisher, I take your point, but even so, I just loved these characters and found myself overlooking one or two anomalies!! As for the pub scene, I think Mrs Bumble, Nancy, Mrs Gamp and Fanny Biggetywitch would have frequented their local! Obviously not Honoria or Amelia, or any gentle woman. Mrs Cratchit? maybe, not sure!!! Singing? probably, but who knows!

merlotgran Mon 22-Feb-16 13:56:32

I just hope the BBC doesn't think Dickensian will do from now on and abandons screen adaptations of individual books.

nigglynellie Mon 22-Feb-16 14:14:56

Yes, I do agree merlotgran. Some of the serials have been excellent and it would be sad if they were abandoned.