''Dickens in America'' is a 2005 television documentary following

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 ...

's travels across the United States in 1842, during which the young journalist penned a travel book, ''

American Notes ''American Notes for General Circulation'' is a travelogue by Charles Dickens detailing his trip to North America from January to June 1842. While there he acted as a critical observer of North American society, almost as if returning a status r ...

''. It is hosted by British actress

Miriam Margolyes Miriam ( he, מִרְיָם ''Mīryām'', lit. 'Rebellion') is described in the Hebrew Bible as the daughter of Amram and Jochebed, and the older sister of Moses and Aaron. She was a prophetess and first appears in the Book of Exodus. The ...

, a lifelong fan of Dickens, and intersperses history with travelogue and interviews. It was produced by Lion Television Scotland for BBC Four.

Nathaniel Parker Nathaniel Parker (born 18 May 1962) is an English stage and screen actor best known for playing the lead in the BBC crime drama series '' The Inspector Lynley Mysteries'', and Agravaine de Bois in the fourth series of ''Merlin''. Early life N ...

provided the voice of Dickens, quoting from his texts throughout the journey.

Overview

Margolyes developed a love of Dickens' work when she was 11 years old and read '' Oliver Twist'', and was inspired to create the series due to the small number of people who were familiar with ''American Notes''. Margolyes received an

Olivier Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known a ...

nomination for her one-woman show '' Dickens' Women'', in which she portrayed 23 characters from the novels and short stories. The show was originally devised for the 1989

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fe ...

and Margolyes continued to reprise the role through to the Dickens bicentennial celebrations in 2012. Dickens sailed for the United States on January 3, 1842, leaving

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

with his wife

Catherine Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria. In the early Christ ...

on board the steamship . During the five-month trip, Dickens travelled by ship,

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

and stagecoach as far west as

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

and as far north as

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. He visited countless social institutions across all levels of society as well as making a specific trip to Richmond, Virginia to observe

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

firsthand, about which he wrote scathingly on his return to the United Kingdom. Margolyes follows Dickens' route, leaving the UK on the ''

Queen Mary 2 RMS ''Queen Mary 2'' (also referred to as the ''QM2'') is a British transatlantic ocean liner. She has served as the flagship of Cunard Line since succeeding ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' in 2004. As of 2022, ''Queen Mary 2'' is the only ocean liner ...

'', the contemporary equivalent flagship of the Cunard line, and wherever possible sleeping in the same inns and visiting the same sites that the author did. She traces both Dickens' own experiences as a travelling celebrity and the differences and similarities of the American culture which so shocked him. The series has been reviewed as being "far from... a critical academic analysis of Dickens' narrative of his 1842 journey" but as a work designed to bring viewers closer to the author with the aid of Margolyes' "subjective opinions".

Home media

The DVD of the series was released in North America on 1 March 2011.

Episodes

References

External links

* *https://web.archive.org/web/20110131215635/http://www.liontv.com/Scotland/Productions/Dickens-In-America Series' page on Lion Television's website {{Charles Dickens, state=collapsed Works about Charles Dickens Works about the United States BBC television documentaries about history during the 18th and 19th centuries