Great Expectations

2011

Seasons & Episodes

  • 1
7.5| NR| en| More Info
Released: 27 December 2011 Ended
Producted By: BBC
Country: United Kingdom
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b018wmhr
Info

The life of an orphan is changed by the providential intervention of a mysterious benefactor.

Genre

Drama

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BBC

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Great Expectations Audience Reviews

Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!
BlazeLime Strong and Moving!
Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable
Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.
Armand maybe it is not the best adaptation. but it has the flavor of novel. Douglas Booth is , maybe, a too modern Pip, more interesting as Romeo or Lancelot but almost strange for this role. the good part - Gillian Anderson who is the inspired choice for Lady Havisham and a huge surprise for many viewers. a series who is more than seductive or beautiful. it is not exactly an adaptation but useful support for remember parts from book. that is its basic virtue - a film like a travel. not just extraordinary but special. not only for atmosphere but for a kind of flavor who is not only part of a great cast or script innovations. a film for remember. that could be the definition. beautiful and correct.
Bernie-56 Stunning photography and high production values in the end could not make up for the gaping plot holes. If you had never seen earlier versions or had never read the book then you would think this is a marvellous production.The piece got off to a magnificent start - the scenes at the forge and surrounding countryside. I did think it odd that the forge was nowhere near a town or farms. People needing a horse shod had a considerable journey to get the job done. At the end of the first episode I was having doubts and shortly into the second episode I had had enough and turned off. At the end of part one I wondered what had happened to Biddy, a secondary but important character. Biddy teaches Pip to read and write yet in this series Pip learns to read and write without any tuition. Joe Gargery's appearance at Pip's club was a false note too. Then one character refers to another as 'an idiot'. Using the word 'idiot' in that way dates from the 1960s. Then it was a medical term meaning a person with severe mental retardation. 'Fool' would have been the correct word.
davegp I've only watched halfway through the first episodes but as far as I can tell I'm yet to hear a single line from the original text. Dickens isn't Dickens without his perfect prose. I understand the need to condense the dialogue but surely they could've done better than this. Take this example from the first chapter of the original:"Now lookee here!" said the man. "Where's your mother?" "There, sir!" said I. He started, made a short run, and stopped and looked over his shoulder. "There, sir!" I timidly explained. "Also Georgiana. That's my mother." "Oh!" said he, coming back. "And is that your father alonger your mother?" "Yes, sir," said I; "him too; late of this parish."This has been vandalized into:"Where's your parents?" "Dead and Buried"I rest my case.From the little I saw Ray Winstone was impressive.
SkeletonTongue I'm rather surprised by some of the negative reviews here. This was a sumptuous production, extremely well cast and judiciously edited from the book. It went out at peak viewing time over the holiday period and drew in large numbers of viewers primarily because it targeted its audience extremely well. Yes it cuts characters from the book, Biddy for example, but with limited time and for the sake of streamlining the story these are characters only missed if you knew of their existence in the first place. For those new to Dickens and there will many, as every generation arrives at classic literature from it's own direction, it is a great introduction to the novel, which I encourage anyone to pick up and read.Standout performances are definitely Ray Winstone and Gillian Anderson, both obviously enjoying their roles enormously and inhabiting their characters perfectly. Any misgivings people have to the casting of the 43 year old Anderson as Miss Havisham should be put to one side. She is often presented as far too old a character in previous versions, so to complain that seven or eight years have been knocked off seems kind of redundant. I enjoyed Douglas Booth as Pip, and he managed to make him initially unlikeable and naive, yet eventually more sympathetic, despite being so 'pretty'! Hat's off to Paul Ritter as Wemmick and Harry Lloyd as Herbert Pocket too, both perfect!