"Middlemarch" (1994) TV mini-series

User Rating:

8.3/10   

Director:

Anthony Page

Writers:

Andrew Davies (writer)
George Eliot (novel)

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

12 January 1994 (UK)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

This Masterpiece Theatre production, set at the cusp of the Industrial Revolution, chronicles, the life...

Plot Keywords:

Hospital | Politics | Mythology | Secret | Medical Research

Awards:

6 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Juliet Aubrey	...	Dorothea Brooke (6 episodes, 1994)
Robert Hardy	...	Arthur Brooke (6 episodes, 1994)
Douglas Hodge	...	Dr. Tertius Lydgate (6 episodes, 1994)
Peter Jeffrey	...	Bulstrode (6 episodes, 1994)
Trevyn McDowell	...	Rosamond Vincy (6 episodes, 1994)
Rufus Sewell	...	Will Ladislaw (6 episodes, 1994)
Caroline Harker	...	Celia Brooke (5 episodes, 1994)
Jonathan Firth	...	Fred Vincy (4 episodes, 1994)
Patrick Malahide	...	Rev. Edward Casaubon (4 episodes, 1994)
Simon Chandler	...	Rev. Farebrother / ... (4 episodes, 1994)
Colum Convey	...	Mr. Hawley (4 episodes, 1994)
Ronald Hines	...	Mr. Standish (4 episodes, 1994)
Rosemary Martin	...	Mrs. Bulstrode (4 episodes, 1994)
Stephen Moore	...	Mayor Vincy (4 episodes, 1994)
Jacqueline Tong	...	Mrs. Vincy (4 episodes, 1994)
Julian Wadham	...	Sir James Chettam (4 episodes, 1994)
Michael Hordern	...	Peter Featherstone (3 episodes, 1994)
Cheryl Fergison	...	Pritchard (3 episodes, 1994)
Mary Hanefey	...	Lady Chettam (3 episodes, 1994)
Roger Milner	...	Pratt (3 episodes, 1994)
Rachel Power	...	Mary Garth (3 episodes, 1994)
Tony Rohr	...	Solomon Featherstone (3 episodes, 1994)
Clive Russell	...	Caleb Garth (3 episodes, 1994)
Elizabeth Spriggs	...	Mrs. Cadwallader (3 episodes, 1994)

Runtime:

375 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Brympton d'Evercy, Yeovil, Somerset, England, UK

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

The last TV acting role of Sir Michael Hordern.

Quotes:

Dr. Tertius Lydgate: The reason doctors prescribe so much medicine, Mr. Mawmsey, is because it's the only way they can make their money. If they could charge for their consultation then they wouldn't have to overdose the King's legion. And that's the worst kind of treason, eh?

Soundtrack:

Home, Sweet Home

Internals not Seen

TeeVee miniseries exist because of strange economic wrinkles. The nature of the medium is so episodic, so finely grained that it is forced to satisfy the needs created by the sameness and thinness. Its why MacDonalds' sells chicken.

So just as the main fare is perverted in a cartoonish simple sense, so is the antidote extreme in the other.

To feed this beast, you need to have stories that only have scope in the larger context and you must (a rule) be able to get that context only by watching more than one chunk, what in TeeVee land is called an episode. Its a strange term that belies its odd requirements.

Into this niche have long come soap operas, shaped by emotional bumpings and worries of extreme characters. And for a few decades the rich uncle of soap operas have flourished as well. These have to be lush, set in a romantic era. And if they come from a respected novel, so very much the better.

Its better because viewers think they are doing something intelligent, and also because writers don't have to thrash out the essential mechanics. But in reality it doesn't matter what the source material, these all go through more or less the same refining process and come out the other end much the same. Its a matter of market need.

If you actually read the books behind these you'll find a bewildering variety that isn't apparent in their small screen translations. Where Austen (for example) was all about the appearance, Eliot was about the internal holding of bonds. Where Austen was all about attaining a position, Eliot, writing in the next generation, was about the challenges of holding those positions.

In a way, Eliot's innovation was get inside, under the appearance. It doesn't matter what the doctor's house or service look like, only that some nitwit thinks the appearance is important. Its a bit scandalous that as we consume this product, what attracts us, at root, is the appearance of the thing. We are the enemy she writes about.

If you just glanced at this, you'd find it indistinguishable from any of the other such pretty things it is classified with. Its a true insult to the book. An absolute scandal. The creative team should be driven out of the village. Cinematic heathens!

Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.