Bleak House 

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 24 wins & 40 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
Phil 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:

tv mini series | period drama | london england | will | smallpox | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the mid 1970s, Anthony Harvey tried to set up a version with Robert Shaw and Vanessa Redgrave or Anne Bancroft, but the financing fell through.

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Quotes

John Jarndyce: [Talking of Esther after she recovers from Small Pox] I blame my self.
Boythorn: You blame yourself for an act of kindness. No sir, the person to blame is the one who calls himself God. What deity is it that would inflict such an illness on an innocent girl?

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Connections

Featured in The Story of the Costume Drama: The Greatest Stories Ever Told (2008)

User Reviews

Magnificent adaptation of Dickens

Having worked in the cinema for most of my life, I tend to regard television - virtually all television - as shallow and second rate. But here is a totally magnificent adaptation of one of Dickens' more challenging novels.

As in most Dickens, here money - a surfeit and a lack of it - structures the complex comings and goings of a labyrinthine plot. The characters are fabulous and some of them - Skimpole and Mr Guppy, for example - may very well become well-known archetypes due to the popularity and power of this adaptation, in the same way that Micawber and Fagin are. The darkness of the sets makes for some wonderfully expressive design work, and the music is brilliantly chosen.

In fact it might be perfect...it's just that Anna Maxwell Martin as the central Esther Summerson is just a bit too simpering... But when you think how flaccid Charles Dance usually is, his Tulkinghorn is a truly creepy creation.... Plenty more to come, but to date (after four episodes), this looks to me better Dickens than anything outside Christine Edzard's 'Little Dorritt' and Lean's 'Great Expectations' - and it could even better them...

Details

Official Sites:

BBC [UK] PBS [United States]

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 January 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bleak House

Filming Locations:

Bromham Hall, Village Road, Bedford, Bedfordshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

GBP6,000,000 (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