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Bleak House (TV serial)

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Bleak House is a fifteen-part BBC television drama serial adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel Bleak House, which was originally published in 1852–53. Produced with an all-star cast and serialised over fifteen episodes, the serial was shown on BBC One from October to December 2005, and drew much critical and popular praise. It has been reported that the total cost of the production was in the region of £8 million.[#endnote_budget] It should not be confused with the 1985 TV adaptation.

Contents

Overview

The serial was produced in-house by the BBC with some co-production funding from United States PBS broadcaster WGBH. It was shown on BBC One, on Thursdays at 8.00 p.m. and Fridays at 8.30 p.m., following the BBC's most popular programme — EastEnders — in attempt to attract more viewers, particularly those of a young age. An hour-long episode started the series on Thursday 27 October 2005. Afterwards, episodes were shown twice weekly — aside from there being no episode broadcast on Friday November 18 due to the annual BBC Children in Need charity telethon — and were thirty minutes in length. The serial was designed to air in the format of a soap opera; this was somewhat experimental for the television drama genre, where conventionally they would be an hour long. BBC One showed omnibus editions of each week's episodes on the Sunday following first broadcast.

Though some critics have argued against it being showed in this format, programme makers and commentators defended that it was typical Dickens, and that if he had been alive in 2005 he would have been writing for big signature dramas. Bleak House was indeed originally published in monthly installments, with cliffhangers used to maintain the continuing interest of the readership. In the United States, the eight hours were broadcast on PBS in six installments. The opening and closing episodes are two hours in length and the middle four episodes were each a single hour. Most PBS stations showed the first-run for the new week's installment at 9:00 p.m. on Sundays from January 22 to February 26 2006. Some other overseas broadcasters, such as Australia's ABC, purchased the series in an eight-part, one-hour episode format.

The programme is also notable for being one of the first British drama series to be shot and produced in the High Definition Television format, which required the make-up and set design to be much more detailed than previous productions.

It was filmed on location in Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Kent from February 2005 through to July 2005

Cast and crew

Reaction

Previewing the first episode of the serial in the BBC's Radio Times listings magazine in its week of broadcast, critic David Butcher wrote that: "Watching this extraordinary version of Dickens's novel feels less like watching a TV drama and more like sampling a strange other world... it's Gillian Anderson who, despite having only a handful of lines, is at the heart of the drama. It's a magnetic performance (one of many) in a tremendous piece of television."[#endnote_rt01]

In the same issue, the magazine — which also devoted its front cover to the programme, a fold-out photograph of the cast posing in modern glamorous dress in the style of a Dynasty-style soap opera cast — contained a preview feature by Christopher Middleton which went behind the scenes of the production. Middleton was equally positive about the adaptation. "The word 'big' doesn't really do it justice," he wrote.[#endnote_rt02]

The Radio Times kept up its positive reaction to the series throughout the programme's run. Of episode eight, Butcher again wrote a positive preview. "We're halfway through this mesmerising serial and it shows no sign of letting up," he wrote. "As ever, each frame is composed to perfection, each face lit like an oil painting, and the acting is out of this world. You might want to take the phone off the hook."[#endnote_rt03]

For the week of the final episode, the magazine's television editor, Alison Graham, joined in the praise, picking out individual cast members for particular attention. "Anna Maxwell Martin as Esther was a superb heroine, but in years to come it's [Gillian] Anderson's portrayal of a secretly tormented aristocrat that we'll treasure."[#endnote_rt04] And of Charles Dance, "As the scheming attorney-at-law, Dance was wolfishly lethal, his hooded eyes and sonorous voice loaded with evil. It's almost enough to make you take against lawyers."[#endnote_rt04]

The praise for the serial was not, however, universal. Writing for The Guardian newspaper, Philip Hensher criticised the idea that a television programme could ever come close to matching the quality of Dickens's original work. "Not having seen any of it, I can't say, but it seems very unlikely that this dramatisation adds to the quality of the greatest novel in the English language. For a start, I've heard that there is no fog to be seen anywhere, which seems rather like filming Moby Dick without the sea. Vegas is surely rather adventurous casting for a character who is 76 years old, described on first appearance as "short, cadaverous and withered."[#endnote_hensher01] He concluded by stating that "Bleak House only lives as 400,000 words, in paperback or hardcover. That is all it is."[#endnote_hensher01]

Hensher's comments led Andrew Davies to write an open letter to The Guardian in response to Hensher's piece, which appeared in the paper two days after the original article. "I think you know that a film can do a lot more than action and dialogue; you're being disingenuous there. And (you won't like this) I think we're a lot better off without Esther's creepily self-regarding narrative. What was it about Dickens? Why couldn't he do girls?"[#endnote_daviesletter]

In terms of viewing figures, Bleak House began with an overnight average audience of 6.6 million for the one-hour opening episode, peaking at 7.2 million and averaging 29% of the total available viewing audience, winning its timeslot.[#endnote_ratings01] Ratings continued to average around the five to six million mark, with the serial sometimes winning its timeslot but on occasions being beaten into second place by programming on ITV1. Bleak House's highest ratings came for the sixth episode on November 11, which attracted an average of 6.91 million viewers and a 29.5% share of the audience.[#endnote_ratings02]

The penultimate episode, broadcast on Thursday December 15, gained an audience of 5.2 million, losing out to The Bill on ITV1 which gained 6.3 million viewers.[#endnote_ratings03]

On May 7 2006, Bleak House won the Best Drama Serial category at the British Academy Television Awards, the most prestigious industry awards in the UK, with Anna Maxwell Martin taking the Best Actress award ahead of fellow nominee Gillian Anderson.

In July 2006, the adaptation was nominated for 10 Emmy Awards including Outstanding Miniseries, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie (Charles Dance), Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie (Gillian Anderson) and Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie (Denis Lawson).

Previous versions

The BBC had previously adapted the novel twice, in 1959 (eleven episodes) and 1985 (eight episodes). In the silent film era it was filmed in 1920 and 1922; the later version starred Sybil Thorndyke as Lady Dedlock. The BBC also adapted the book for radio.

References

  1. ↑  Gordon, Bryony. ["I'm too old for romantic leads"]. The Daily Telegraph. Tuesday October 11 2005.
  2. ↑  Kilkelly, Daniel (2005). [Digital Spy article on Bleak House cast]. Retrieved October 26 2005.
  3. ↑  Butcher, David. "Today's Choices: Thursday 27 October. Bleak House." Radio Times. Volume 327, number 4256, issue dated October 22–28 2005, page 108.
  4. ↑  Middleton, Christopher. Ibid, page 10.
  5. ↑  Butcher, David. "Today's Choices: Thursday 24 November. Bleak House." Radio Times. Volume 327, number 4206, issue dated November 19–25 2005, page 114.
  6. ↑  Graham, Alison. "Television: The Bleakies." Radio Times. Volume 327, number 4263, issue dated December 10–16 2005, page 61.
  7. ↑  Hensher, Philip. ["You'll never catch me watching it"]. The Guardian. Monday November 7 2005.
  8. ↑  Davies, Andrew. ["Open letter to Philip Hensher"] (subscription link). The Guardian. Wednesday November 9 2005.
  9. ↑  Day, Julie. ["6.6m flock to Bleak House"] (subscription link). MediaGuardian.co.uk. Friday October 28 2005.
  10. ↑  Wilkes, Neil. ["Bleak House rises to 7 million"]. digitalspy.co.uk. Monday November 14 2005.
  11. ↑  Tryhorn, Chris. ["Trevor says goodbye to 3 million"] (subscription link). MediaGuardian.co.uk. Friday December 16 2005.

External links

 

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