This is a three-episode miniseries adaptation of the novel. I'd like to know who thought adapting a Dickens novel into three episodes was a good idea. Nicholas Nickleby (2001) just about gets away with two episodes, but all Dickens' works post-Barnaby Rudge are too long and too complicated to fit into anything less than five episodes. Remember how Our Mutual Friend (1998) had to remove subplots and characters to squeeze the story into four episodes? Filmmakers (and series-makers) should really have learnt by now that Dickens adaptations need to be long, or a whole lot ends up cut.
Because there are only three episodes, I decided it wasn't worth splitting this review. So expect a long, rambling review full of remarks on things I liked, didn't like, or just noticed particularly.
I only recognised a few actors:
Gillian Anderson (Lady Dedlock in Bleak House 2005, and Lily in The House of Mirth 2000) as Miss Haversham
Ray Winstone (voice of Mr. Beaver in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and Mac in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) as Magwitch
Vanessa Kirby (Princess Margaret in The Crown) as Estella
David Suchet (Melmotte in The Way We Live Now) as Jaggers
Harry Lloyd (Young Steerforth in David Copperfield 1999) as Herbert
From the opening scene it's obvious that visually, as well as thematically, this is going to be one of the darkest BBC period dramas. At first I wondered if it was in black-and-white. Nope, it's in colour, but it manages to make Little Dorrit look cheerful and brightly-coloured in comparison.
At first it looks like it's going to start the same way as the book: Magwitch finding Pip in the churchyard. But instead Pip leaves the churchyard, and Magwitch... jumps out at him from under a bridge? What? Then there's an unexpectedly violent scene of Magwitch trying to drown Compeyson in the marsh. This doesn't happen in the book, so its presence here serves no purpose beyond making the series even darker.
Young Pip and Magwitch
Anyway, Pip meets Magwitch and steals a file for him, then the soldiers recapture Magwitch and Compeyson, another escaped convict. Then Pip is invited to visit Satis House, where the mysterious Miss Haversham and Estella live.
Miss Haversham
Young Estella
What on earth is up with that cabinet of butterflies? I don't remember anything in the book about Miss Haversham's brother collecting butterflies. It feels like a heavy-handed attempt at symbolism, especially Miss Haversham's remarks about "stabbing beauty in the heart". And then there's Estella calling Miss Haversham "Mother". Umm... I'm pretty sure that never happened in the book. Estella is Miss Haversham's ward, which isn't quite the same as an adopted daughter, and she wasn't raised as her daughter.
The interiors of Satis House are very well done. Extremely creepy, covered in cobwebs, falling apart, exactly like in the book. Of course, in the book there were more wedding decorations and fewer stabbed butterflies, but I'll try to overlook that. We do eventually see the wedding decorations, so at least they didn't forget them entirely.
Some of the interiors, including the decaying wedding decorations.
Pip keeps visiting Miss Haversham, to the annoyance of her relatives, the Pockets. While at Satis House he meets Jaggers, Miss Haversham's lawyer, and Herbert, his future best friend. And, of course, he's starting to fall in love with Estella.
One of the weirdest scenes in the series is Miss Haversham's... tantrum? I really don't know what else to call it. She goes from speaking calmly like she always does to almost crying and then to screaming about her relatives like an angry teenager. When did that happen in the book?
After this Miss Haversham tells Pip not to visit any more and arranges for him to become his uncle Joe's apprentice. We get two unnerving scenes in fairly quick succession, and neither was in the book. One is between Pip's sister and Orlick, foreshadowing Orlick's murder attempt, and the other is between Miss Haversham and Estella, showing plainly how Miss Haversham is manipulating and emotionally abusing Estella. Then Joe and Pip go home... to find Pip's sister has almost been murdered.
Years pass. Pip, now grown up, goes to visit Miss Haversham again. He meets Estella, also grown up, and -- idiot that he is -- falls in love with her. Episode one ends when Jaggers arrives to tell Pip about his mysterious benefactor and his great expectations. So off Pip goes to London, thinking Miss Haversham is his benefactor.
Pip and Estella as adults
Episode two starts with Pip in London, meeting Mr. Jaggers again. A lot of this is lifted straight from the book -- the crowds waiting to see Jaggers and the gruesome heads on the wall especially. Then Pip moves into his new lodgings and meets Herbert again. I don't remember Herbert teaching Pip to dance in the book, but it's one of the few funny and relatively light-hearted scenes in this series, so I don't mind too much.
Jaggers
Herbert
In this version Herbert has been kicked out of his family because of the girl he loves. Er... what? When did this happen in the book? The Pocket family don't really have much to do with the plot, but if the director didn't want to include them, he could have just left them out.
Pip gets to demonstrate how his new wealth is changing him for the worse. Joe comes to visit him, and Pip is ashamed and embarrassed to see him. Great way to repay the man who helped raise you and who was always kind to you, Pip! 😠 Then shortly afterwards, Pip decides to do something good with his money and arranges for Herbert to get a job. So nice of you to care about your friend and not your uncle, Pip!
Miss Haversham asks Pip to escort Estella to where she'll be staying in Richmond. At the house in Richmond Pip and Estella meet the coarse, brutish Bentley Drummle. There's a certain scene and some crude dialogue that isn't in the book, and therefore has no business being in the series.
Drummle and Estella.
(I keep thinking that's a blood-stain on Estella's dress. Perhaps that's what the costume designer intended.)
This Miss Haversham is much more... short-tempered? Prone to mood-swings? -- than her book counterpart. In addition to her earlier tantrum, there's a scene where she goes from asking Estella about her life in London to yelling at Pip. It shows how mentally unstable she is, but I was expecting her to be coldly arrogant like in the book, so at first I didn't know what to make of this behaviour. I still don't know, actually.
Almost forgot to mention that equally odd scene where Pip and Estella kiss while standing in a river. Huh? Setting aside the sheer weirdness of that scene, this series is set in a time when ladies never showed their legs in front of men. Ever.
Magwitch reappears, in very odd circumstances. Instead of Pip seeing him on the stairs and letting him in the door, he lets himself in while Pip is sleeping. And then he empties a sack of paper all over the carpet, while saying it's Pip's fortune and he's his benefactor? Who thought this was an improvement on the book's version of this scene?
Magwitch and Pip
In episode three, Pip tries to cope with Magwitch's revelation. At first he refuses to believe it, in spite of Herbert's protestations. Then he goes to confront Miss Haversham... and learns Estella is engaged to Drummle. Estella's decision makes even less sense here than in the book. She's seen what a jerk Drummle is, she has no need to get married to anyone, and Miss Haversham raised her specifically to break men's hearts which would be harder to do when she's married. So why on earth did Estella choose to marry him, and why did Miss Haversham go along with this? 😕
A reward is offered for Magwitch's recapture. Pip reluctantly agrees to help get him out of the country. Like in the book, this is the most interesting part of the story.
Estella has married Drummle, meanwhile, in spite of her own objections. Her husband won't let her answer Miss Haversham's letters. The scene of Miss Haversham crying and shouting Estella's name reminds me a lot of a similar scene in Bleak House (the novel, not the series). This scene wasn't in the book, if I recall, so maybe that was an intentional reference?
In this version we see Orlick and Compeyson plotting together. For some reason the director changed Molly's backstory. Instead of murdering a woman she hated, Compeyson tried to rape her and he framed her for attempted murder after she escaped. I'm not sure what to think about this change. On the one hand it makes Molly more sympathetic, but on the other, I tend to take a dim view of unnecessary differences from the book.
Orlick and Compeyson. Ugh.
Miss Haversham's death is slightly different here, and it makes her look like an absolute idiot. Who throws burning paper on the floor when they're wearing a long dress? And who just stands there after they catch fire and don't even try to beat it out?
A disaster waiting to happen. (I spent this whole scene shouting "Move away from the fire, you idiot!")
Pip tries to get Magwitch to safety. The plan fails, and like in the book it ends with Compeyson and Magwitch both dead. Good riddance to Compeyson, but I cried at Magwitch's death.
😭
Pip and Wemmick at Magwitch's grave.
The series doesn't include Pip falling ill and Joe nursing him back to health. (Guess they were running out of time 🤷) It does include Joe paying Pip's debts, though, so I can sort of forgive them for this omission.
Estella's husband has died, so she returns to Satis House. Pip goes to visit her. The series ends with a surprisingly sweet scene of the two of them.
So, what's my overall opinion? ...Good question. It changed with almost every scene. I like Joe and Herbert in most versions, and I like this version of Magwitch, Wemmick, and Miss Haversham (once I got used to Gillian Anderson's acting choices). Pip swings between being more likeable than his book counterpart, and a spoilt brat who sets my teeth on edge. Estella is... well, she didn't leave much of an impression, but at least she didn't drive me up the wall quite as much as book!Estella. In this version we get to see how miserable she is in her marriage instead of hearing about it second-hand, which made me feel more sorry for her than I did when I read the book.
One thing this adaptation does really well is visuals. The marshes are as gloomy and depressing as in the book, and Satis House is shown in all its decaying glory.
I suppose it's best described as "a decent, if rushed, adaptation with some very good moments".
Is it available online?: Yes, on Dailymotion. The link goes to episode 1, but the other episodes are available there too.
Rating: 6/10.
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