Bleak House (2005– )

A suspenseful tale about the injustices of the 19th-century English legal system

Stars:

Anna Maxwell Martin, Denis Lawson, Carey Mulligan

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 18 wins & 30 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Anna Maxwell Martin	...	Esther Summerson (15 episodes, 2005)
Denis Lawson	...	John Jarndyce (15 episodes, 2005)
Carey Mulligan	...	Ada Clare (15 episodes, 2005)
Gillian Anderson	...	Lady Dedlock (14 episodes, 2005)
Tom Georgeson	...	Clamb (14 episodes, 2005)
Charles Dance	...	Mr. Tulkinghorn (12 episodes, 2005)
Patrick Kennedy	...	Richard Carstone (12 episodes, 2005)
Timothy West	...	Sir Leicester Dedlock (12 episodes, 2005)
Burn Gorman	...	Guppy (11 episodes, 2005)
Hugo Speer	...	Sergeant George (10 episodes, 2005)
Pauline Collins	...	Miss Flite (10 episodes, 2005)
Philip Davis	...	Smallweed (10 episodes, 2005)
Nathaniel Parker	...	Harold Skimpole (10 episodes, 2005)
Alun Armstrong	...	Bucket (9 episodes, 2005)
Anne Reid	...	Mrs. Rouncewell (9 episodes, 2005)
Lilo Baur	...	Hortense (9 episodes, 2005)
Katie Angelou	...	Charley Neckett (9 episodes, 2005)
Louise Brealey	...	Judy (8 episodes, 2005)
Michael Smiley	...	Phil Squod (8 episodes, 2005)
Emma Williams	...	Rosa (7 episodes, 2005)
Harry Eden	...	Jo (7 episodes, 2005)
Richard Harrington	...	Allan Woodcourt (7 episodes, 2005)
Natalie Press	...	Caddy Turveydrop (7 episodes, 2005)

Storyline

A suspenseful tale about the injustices of the 19th-century English legal system

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Plot Keywords:

doctor | court battle | marriage proposal | murder | estate | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

BBC [uk] PBS [us]

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 October 2005 (UK)

Also Known As:

Casa desolada

Filming Locations:

Balls Park, Hertford, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

£6,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), WGBH, Deep Indigo Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

510 min 60 min (1 episode) 30 min (14 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Lady Dedlock's green and white vertical-striped dress with white lace cuffs is the same costume worn by Daniela Denby-Ashe as Margaret Hale in the final scenes of North & South.

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Quotes

Mr. Tulkinghorn: [after the funeral of Mr Nemo] What do you know of this man?
Jo: I don't know nothing only that he was really good to me.
Mr. Tulkinghorn: Oh, and what good were you to him?

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Connections

Version of Bleak House (1922)

User Reviews

Outstanding, so far.

I've just watched the first episode, and I thought it was the best classic adaptation on British television for years. (I have been tiring of costume-drama-by-numbers, and of Andrew Davies's superficial adaptations in particular, but they've got this one right, in my opinion). The directing is excellent, producing uniformly good performances from the actors - even from the likes of Johnny Vegas - and particularly from Charles Dance as Tulkinghorn and from the actress playing Esther Summerson (a tiresomely one-dimensional character in the book).

The camera moves around in response to characters' actions in an interesting way, and scenes open and close with swooshing sounds of the sort used these days in sci-fi feature films, keeping things vibrant. Since the early parts of the book are the least successful, I'm sure this serial can't help but go from strength to strength.

My favourite scene was Guppy's hilarious proposal of marriage to Esther.