I'd watched several period dramas before -- Pride and Prejudice, A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist, and similar ones. But none of them, not even P&P, got me interested in the genre as a whole the way David Copperfield did.
The miniseries is based on Charles Dickens' eighth novel, which was also his most autobiographical. As the title suggests, the main character is called David Copperfield.
Recognisable actors include:
Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) as young David Copperfield
Emilia Fox (Georgiana in Pride and Prejudice 1995) as Clara Copperfield
Maggie Smith (the Dowager Countess in Downton Abbey, Professor McGonagall in Harry Potter, and Mrs. Medlock in The Secret Garden 1993) as Betsey Trotwood
Zoë Wanamaker (Mrs. Jarley in The Old Curiosity Shop 2007) as Jane Murdstone
Pauline Quirk (Dixon in North and South) as Peggotty
Alun Armstrong (Inspector Bucket in Bleak House) as Dan Peggotty
Imelda Staunton (Miss Pole in Cranford) as Mrs. Micawber
Ian McKellen (Gandalf in Lord of the Rings) as Mr. Creakle
Karl Johnson (Twister in Lark Rise to Candleford) as Tungay
Dawn French (Caroline Arless in Lark Rise to Candleford) as Mrs. Crupp
The story starts with Betsey Trotwood visiting Clara Copperfield, the widow of her nephew, on the evening David is born. Miss Trotwood is sure the baby will be a girl. She's so furious it's a boy that she leaves, never to return.
Betsey Trotwood
David and his mother
Years pass, and Clara finds a new husband: Mr. Murdstone. It's obvious from his first appearance that this guy is trouble. Even his name sounds horrible! Yet Clara decides she wants to marry him. I can sum up my reaction to this in two words: you idiot!
Mr. Murdstone, the wicked stepfather.
David goes to stay with Dan Peggotty, an uncle of Clara Peggotty, the Copperfields' maid. There he meets Ham and Little Em'ly, both of whom will be important later.
Dan Peggotty
Clara Peggotty and David
Ham and Little Em'ly
While he's away his mother marries Mr. Murdstone. David returns to find his stepfather's sister has also moved in, and she's taken over the house.
Jane Murdstone. Someone knock that bonnet off, please. And tread upon it!
Together the Murdstones abuse Clara, Peggotty, and David. Their cruelty leads to David biting Mr. Murdstone (hurray!). Unfortunately this makes the Murdstones send David off to a horrible school, run by the equally horrible Mr. Creakle. Imagine a marginally less vile version of Wackford Squeers in Nicholas Nickleby, and you know all you need to know about Mr. Creakle.
Mr. Creakle. Ugh.
While at this school David meets a boy called Steerforth, who'll also be important later.
David, Steerforth, and some of the schoolboys
Clara Copperfield dies, and Mr. Murdstone takes David out of school and sends him away to work in a factory. He stays with Mr. and Mrs. Micawber, two of the nicest (and funniest) characters in the series.
Mr. Micawber
Mrs. Micawber
Mr. Micawber is in debt, and while David is staying at his house he's arrested and sent to a debtor's prison. Mrs. Micawber's family pay his debts, and the Micawbers pack up and leave -- but can't take David. He decides to find his aunt Betsey Trotwood. After a long arduous journey, he arrives at her house.
At first Aunt Betsey wants nothing to do with him. ("No boys here!") But when she learns who he is and what's happened to him, she takes him in. Aunt Betsey is one of the characters Dickens excelled at writing: comically eccentric, but with a heart of gold.
Also staying with Aunt Betsey is Mr. Dick, another of the nicest characters in the series even though he's a bit odd. (King Charles I, anyone?)
Mr. Dick
The Murdstones reappear, demanding Aunt Betsey hands David over to them. She refuses. Awesomely.
"Do you think I don't know what sort of life you led this poor child's mother? It was a woeful day when you first appeared!"
That's the last we see of the Murdstones, thank goodness. Unfortunately they're soon to be replaced with another villain. Aunt Betsey sends David off to school -- a much better school than Mr. Creakle's. While there he stays with Aunt Betsey's lawyer Mr. Wickfield, his daughter Agnes... and his clerk Uriah Heep.
The very 'umble Uriah Heep. (Side note: I'm endlessly annoyed that no adaptation of the novel ever remembers Uriah was only fifteen when David came to stay with the Wickfields.)
David grows up and goes to work for another lawyer, Mr. Spenlow, who has a daughter named Dora. David immediately falls in love with Dora. Unfortunately, she's a childish airhead. This is especially irritating because Agnes is clearly in love with David, but he's such an idiot he doesn't realise it.
David, now an adult, and Agnes
Dora
Episode 1 ends with David determined to marry Dora. Of course there's no way this could possibly go wrong...
So, what do I think of the series so far?
It's not one of the best Dickens adaptations, and it might not even be the best adaptation of David Copperfield. (Though it's certainly better than the 2000 version, which sees the book's plot as a guideline to be ignored at will, and probably better than the upcoming 2019 version, which has the oddest cast list I've ever seen for a Dickens adaptation -- Tilda Swinton as Aunt Betsey? Who looked at the White Witch of all people and thought "She'd be perfect as Aunt Betsey!"?)
A mark against this adaptation is that it has Dawn French in a (mercifully) minor role, and I can't stand her. She isn't even an actress, she's a comedienne, and she couldn't portray a convincing emotion if her life depended on it. To make matters worse she shares her scene with the magnificent Maggie Smith. The contrast between the two is so obvious that I don't know if I should laugh or be furious that someone actually thought casting Dawn French was a good idea.
But other than that, the acting in this adaptation is pretty good overall. Young!David is adorable, Mr. Dick and Mr. Micawber are brilliant, Uriah Heep is a slimy creep, Mrs. Micawber is hilarious, the Murdstones are vile, and Aunt Betsey is awesome.
Rating of this episode: 7/10.
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