"Bleak House" (2005) TV mini-series

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

27 October 2005 (UK)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Doctor | Court Battle | Marriage Proposal | Murder | Estate

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 17 wins & 26 nominations

Cast

 (Series Cast Summary - 23 of 50)

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)
Loo 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)

Runtime:

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

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:PG | Singapore:PG | Finland:K-11 (DVD) (2006)

Filming Locations:

Balls Park, Hertford, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

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" (2004).

Quotes:

[repeated line, to his grand-daughter]
Smallweed: Shake me up, Judy!

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (2006) (TV)

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.