Amazon.co.uk Review It’s fair to say that the BBC adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Little Dorrit managed to attract quite a cast. Led by the excellent Claire Foy and Matthew Macfadyen, you’ll happily talent spot as the likes of Eddie Marsan, Andy Serkis, Alun Armstrong and Tom Courtney take their places in the production. And what’s more, making more fleeting appearances are the likes of Sue Johnston, Amanda Redman, Pam Ferris and Freema Agyeman. Star-studded doesn’t begin to describe it.
Perhaps the real star of Little Dorrit though is writer Andrew Davies, who once more manages to skilfully wrangle a classic text into a cracking TV adaptation. Across fourteen episodes, he weaves Dickens’ tale of 1820s London into life, and it’s not the easiest text to adapt. Davies, however, does sterling work here, and cements his position as one of the best in the business.
He’s matched toe-to-toe by the production team, though. Little Dorrit is the latest to further enhance the BBC’s pedigree where costume drama is concerned, and the production is simply sumptuous. Perhaps, on the downside, the casting gets a little star-focused, and it does require a little more effort than you’d normally expect on the part of the viewer to get into. But it’s richly rewarded effort, and we can’t be the only ones eagerly wondering what Andrew Davies will tackle next. For Little Dorrit really is something quite special. --Jon Foster
Don't waste your moneyDecember 27, 2008 John S(Kent, UK) 1 out of 4 found this review helpful
Slow, tedious, over-acted, pretentious - how many different ways can you film something through something else?
But the worst thing is that they have changed the ending, and don't explain their new version.
Despite the fact that they drag it out so such a ridiculous length, they miss out lots of key plot elements from the book. The great secret when finally (partially) revealed is completely different from Dickens' ending, and makes no sense. You are just left asking questions.
A complete waste of time.
Try one of the older versions - it may make sense - or read the book.
A little lost at the endDecember 18, 2008 S. Thomas(UK) This is a fantastic series, although I found the first episode a little difficult to get into and almost gave up at that point. I would therefore urge anyone that decides to buy the DVD to persevere past the first 30 minutes or so as the story becomes mesmerising.
The majority of the casting was great; the performances given by Eve Myles and Annette Crosbie were incredible.
My only criticism is that I found the ending rather confusing, probably because I have not read the book. I am therefore buying the book to work out exactly what happened at the end - please do not take this as a criticism of the adaptation as it really was worth while, I am just not clear what the big secret was.
Best costume drama in a decade!December 5, 2008 M. Limb(Gloucestershire, UK) 9 out of 9 found this review helpful
The past decade has produced some fabulous costume dramas, but Little Dorrit has to be the best: it combines moving profundity, eccentric humour and a dazzling evocation of Victorian London and Venice to create a visually spellbinding and continuously gripping experience for the viewer. It's impeccably cast, and all of the actors give superb performances, down to the last telling detail.
It's astonishing that Andrew Davies could have captured such a complex, multi-layered story with such daringly economical dialogue, but every character and scene is drawn in intricate, mesmerizing detail and the feel of the book is recreated with utmost faithfulness. Mr Pancks' leapfrog is one of our favourite television moments of all time! No-one could fail to enjoy this adaptation. We'll be watching the episodes back to back continuously for the rest of our lives!
Unputdownable!November 26, 2008 Morna Wheatley(Hammersmith, London United Kingdom) 15 out of 15 found this review helpful
The BBC's latest adaption of Little Dorrit is not to be missed. The casting is excellent (M. Rigaud is truly terrifying), and the costumes and sets are just right. Every moment is riveting, one is constantly wondering which way the story is going to turn next, and although the plot is perhaps a little contrived in places (a few too many coincidences), it doesn't detract from the enjoyment. In fact I'm beside myself at the end of each episode, wanting to know what will happen next. Not normally a great lover of Dickens, this production has changed my mind. Don't miss it!
The last episode was a visual tour de forceNovember 19, 2008 Basiledes(North Wales) 0 out of 1 found this review helpful
After the somewhat static, frozen style of the previous episodes, suddenly movement is unloosed and everything is twitching, jerking, slipping and sliding, falling and collapsing. The camera which has been rather immobile except for pans and zooms suddenly begins to move. This surely must have been worked out deliberately as part of the image system of the serial. I had been surprised at the visual flatness of the earlier episodes but when we get to experience the contrasting shock of the climax it all makes sense. The implication is that money freezes social relations, but when it is removed from social relations human feeling and human affection emerge. It's a rather brilliant device and is thoroughly reflected in the dramatic content, or rather vice versa. I laughed out loud with pleasure and had tears in my eyes at the same time.
By the way for the person who voted against the observations above, 'social relations' is the Marxist term for something that Marxists think Marx was the first to understand and write about. Readers of the 19thc novel know different.
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