Writer for all seasons

WHAT the Dickens. Or rather what to do without Dickens now that the BBC has finished its 15-part adaptation of Bleak House. This mid-Victorian masterpiece has been the hit of the BBC season. All credit to a fine cast and a brilliant adaptation by Andrew Davies.

You can moan at the blandness of Esther Summerson, doubt the niceness of John Jarndyce, wish that Lady Dedlock had more than one look, hate the music, get irritated by the portentous editing and think that Smallweed is grossly overplayed. You can debate the addition of the character of Clamb, balk at the liberties taken with the script and despair at the ignorance of the distances that need to be travelled.

Every generation takes Charles Dickens for granted, pigeon-holing him as a sentimentalist and overblown, only to discover anew just what a master story-teller he is, what a genius he had for character and plot.

— The Independent

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