''Bleak House'' is the first
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
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adaptation of
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
' 1853 novel of
the same name. It was adapted by
Constance Cox
Constance Cox (25 October 1912 – 8 July 1998) was a British script writer and playwright, born in Sutton, Surrey.
Life and career
Cox was born Constance Shaw in Sutton, Surrey, in 1912. She married Norman Cox, a fighter pilot, who was kill ...
as an eleven-part series of half-hour episodes first transmitted from 16 October 1959. Unlike most television series of the 1950s, the complete serial survived and, in 2017, was released to DVD by Simply Media.
Cast
*
Andrew Cruickshank
Andrew John Maxton Cruickshank (25 December 1907 in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire29 April 1988 in London) was a Scottish actor, most famous for his portrayal of Dr Cameron in the long-running UK BBC television series ''Dr. Finlay's Casebook'', which ...
as John Jarndyce
*Diana Fairfax as Esther Summerson
*
Colin Jeavons
Colin Abel Jeavons (born 20 October 1929) is a retired British television actor.
Career
Jeavons' earliest television role was as Jules Neraud in an episode of the 1956 anthology series of teleplays ''Nom-de-Plume''. Broadcast live, it is unkno ...
as Richard Carstone
*
Elizabeth Shepherd
Elizabeth Shepherd (born 12 August 1936) is an English character actress whose long career has encompassed the stage and both the big and small screens. Her television work has been especially prolific. Shepherd's surname has been variously ren ...
as Ada Clare
*Iris Russell as Honoria, Lady Dedlock
*
Timothy Bateson
Timothy Dingwall Bateson (3 April 1926 – 15 September 2009) was an English actor.
Life and career
Born in London, the son of solicitor Dingwall Latham Bateson and the great-nephew of rugby player Harold Dingwall Bateson, he was educated at U ...
as William Guppy
*
John Phillips as Mr. Tulkinghorne
*
David Horne as Sir Leicester Dedlock
*
Richard Pearson as Inspector Bucket
*Malcolm Knight as Jo
*Eileen Draycott as Mrs. Rouncewell
*
Jerome Willis
Jerome Barry Willis (23 October 1928 – 11 January 2014) was a prominent British stage and screen actor with more than 100 screen credits to his name.
Willis had a leading role in the ITV drama series ''The Sandbaggers'' as Matthew Peele. He ...
as Mr. Woodcourt
*
Michael Aldridge
Michael William ffolliott Aldridge (9 September 1920 – 10 January 1994) was an English actor. He was known for playing Seymour Utterthwaite in the television series ''Last of the Summer Wine'' from 1986 to 1990 and he had a long career as a ...
as Mr. George
*
Nora Nicholson
Nora Nicholson (7 December 1887 – 18 September 1973) was an English actress. Known for her portrayal of character roles, she achieved her greatest success in the later years of her career. She played in classics by Shakespeare and Chekhov and ...
as Miss Flite
*
Annette Carell
Annette Karen Carell (variously Carrell; born Anneliese Erlanger; 7 January 1926 – 20 October 1967) was a German-born American actress of stage, screen, and television who lived in the United States and Britain at various stages of her career. ...
as Mlle. Hortense
*
Angela Crow
Angela Rosemary Crow (13 December 1935 – 3 March 2022) was an English television actress, best known for her appearance in the early days of British soap opera '' Coronation Street'', as factory worker Doreen Lostock, between 1961 and 1963.
...
as Charley
Archive Status
All episodes were originally either broadcast live or recorded on 405 line black and white
videotapes
Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videocassette ...
, with
35mm film 35 mm may refer to:
* 135 film, a type of still photography format commonly referred to as 35 mm film
* 35 mm movie film, a type of motion picture film stock
* 35MM 35 mm may refer to:
* 135 film, a type of still photography format ...
inserts for exterior scenes. Although the original recordings for the studio and location work no longer exist, the series was
telerecorded, and
16mm
16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, educ ...
film copies have survived intact. At one point during one of the later episodes, an insect can be seen on the screen, having crawled across it during the recording. As the error was unavoidable, no copy of the episode without an insect on the screen exists.
Critical reception
On the series DVD release, ''Archive Television Musings'' wrote "Lacking the visual sweep of the later adaptations, this version of Bleak House has to stand or fall on the quality of its actors. Luckily, there's very little to complain about here. There are some fine central performances – Fairfax, Cruickshank and Jeavons especially – whilst...there's strength in depth from the supporting players with Timothy Bateson standing out. Another strong early BBC Dickens serial, Bleak House comes warmly recommended.
References
External links
*
1959 British television series debuts
1959 British television series endings
1950s British drama television series
BBC television dramas
Films based on works by Charles Dickens
Television series set in the 1850s
Television shows based on works by Charles Dickens
1950s British television miniseries
Works based on Bleak House
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