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Showing posts with the label Bleak House

"Bleak House" is far from, er, bleak

Okay. I will admit it: I am a sucker for TV costume dramas... especially when they are well-made, produced by the BBC, and adapted into multiple hours. I've stared mesmerized for hours at the fantastic 6-hour Colin Firth/Jennifer Ehle opus Pride and Prejudice , the twisty and addictive Our Mutual Friend , and the thrilling adaptation of Dickens confidante Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White , among others. And with the latest addition to the oeuvre, the BBC's brilliant adaptation of Charles Dickens ' multi-layered novel, Bleak House , the BBC has outdone itself in every aspect. Adapted with skill by screenwriter Andrew Davies, Bleak House aired in the UK last year to critical and commercial acclaim. Structured as a nighttime soap (sort of like EastEnders with street urchins and Chancery suits), the BBC aired the series as 15 half-hour installments twice a week, keeping the serialized aspect of Dickens' original novel. Fortunately, when Bleak House arrived across th