Little Dorrit (2008– )

The series tells the story of Amy Dorrit, who spends her days earning money for the family and looking after her proud father, who is a long term inmate of Marshalsea debtors' prison in ... See full summary »

Stars:

Claire Foy, Matthew Macfadyen, Tom Courtenay

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 8 wins & 21 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Claire Foy	...	Amy Dorrit (14 episodes, 2008)
Matthew Macfadyen	...	Arthur Clennam (14 episodes, 2008)
Tom Courtenay	...	Mr. Dorrit (14 episodes, 2008)
Emma Pierson	...	Fanny Dorrit (14 episodes, 2008)
Alun Armstrong	...	Flintwinch (12 episodes, 2008)
Judy Parfitt	...	Mrs. Clennam (12 episodes, 2008)
Eddie Marsan	...	Pancks (11 episodes, 2008)
Andy Serkis	...	Rigaud (11 episodes, 2008)
Rosie Cavaliero	...	Mrs. Plornish (10 episodes, 2008)
Russell Tovey	...	John Chivery (10 episodes, 2008)
Jason Thorpe	...	Cavalletto (10 episodes, 2008)
Amanda Redman	...	Mrs. Merdle (10 episodes, 2008)
Sebastian Armesto	...	Edmund Sparkler (9 episodes, 2008)
James Fleet	...	Frederick Dorrit (9 episodes, 2008)
Georgia King	...	Pet Gowan (9 episodes, 2008)
Ron Cook	...	Chivery (9 episodes, 2008)
Alex Wyndham	...	Henry Gowan (9 episodes, 2008)
Bill Paterson	...	Mr. Meagles (9 episodes, 2008)
Freema Agyeman	...	Tattycoram (8 episodes, 2008)
Zubin Varla	...	Daniel Doyce (8 episodes, 2008)
Janine Duvitski	...	Mrs. Meagles (8 episodes, 2008)
Anton Lesser	...	Mr. Merdle (7 episodes, 2008)
Nicholas Jones	...	Scary Butler (7 episodes, 2008)
Eve Myles	...	Maggy (7 episodes, 2008)
Arthur Darvill	...	Tip Dorrit (7 episodes, 2008)
Sue Johnston	...	Affery (7 episodes, 2008)
Maxine Peake	...	Miss Wade (7 episodes, 2008)
Ruth Jones	...	Flora Finching (7 episodes, 2008)
Pam Ferris	...	Mrs. General (6 episodes, 2008)
Jason Watkins	...	Plornish (6 episodes, 2008)
Annette Crosbie	...	Mr. F's Aunt (6 episodes, 2008)

Storyline

The series tells the story of Amy Dorrit, who spends her days earning money for the family and looking after her proud father, who is a long term inmate of Marshalsea debtors' prison in London. Amy and her family's world is transformed when her boss's son, Arthur Clennam, returns from overseas to solve his family's mysterious legacy and discovers that their lives are interlinked.

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Plot Keywords:

debtor's prison | debt | love | 19th century | mentally challenged | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Details

Official Sites:

BBC [uk] PBS [us]

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 October 2008 (UK)

Also Known As:

Charles Dickens' Little Dorrit

Filming Locations:

Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), NOVA/WGBH Boston

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The blue-striped cotton day dress Amanda Lawrence (Poyner) wears working for the Meagleses is the same costume Kate Beckinsale (Emma Woodhouse) wears while telling Mr. Knightley about Harriet's reply to Mr. Martin in Emma, Victoria Hamilton (Miss Granham) wears in To the Ends of the Earth, and Julie Cox (Annabella Milbanke) wears while writing to Byron in Byron.

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Connections

Version of Little Dorrit (1988)

User Reviews

Wonderful

From the first moments of this wonderful production we (mum, dad and two girls 10 and 12) were entranced. Unlike those in the UK who would see this a slice a week, we saw the whole lot over a single long weekend. As I write - we've just two episodes to go...

We have all the BBC Dickens productions for comparison - including the recent Bleak House and our favourites Great Expectations and (my personal top) Our Mutual Friend. LD comes v.close to the top of this pile - The last two episodes may tip the balance....

From the first, this production grabs with its beautiful and (perhaps unusually) 'sunny' scenery. None of the austerity of the recent Great Expectations production, nor the gloominess of Bleak House. Actually this made for a nice change.... The acting is perfect - with key emotional scenes being utterly believable. The actor playing Young Chivery (heading for great things I suspect) induced a flood burst of tears from my 10 year old in the marriage proposal scene. As others have mentioned, even the smaller parts are excellently cast and played. But there's something else at play here to make this possible.

In many Dickens productions Directors seem loath to leave peripheral characters out. Bleak House in particular suffered for this I think. In LD everyone seems to have space and time in which to be presented and to evolve. It never feels chaotic or suffocating - time is taken, and this makes the whole that more soluble.

The leads are all superb - Little Dorit is perfectly perfect without being goody goody....(another issue with Bleak House), and Andrew McFad is particularly good, managing to look younger than he did in the wonderful Pride and Prejudice... And did he chub up for the role? Things have been left out - and perhaps the damning indictment of society and government are not so forcibly presented as they might have been. But what remains is a delightful mystery, beautifully told and acted and which we will want to watch all over again as soon as we've come to the end.