studioAT Airing over Christmas 2011 this adaptation of Dickens' classic novel is actually pretty good. It can't compete with the David Lean version, but there's a lot to be liked about it.Yes, it cuts out some moments, which is odd seeing as they had several episodes to tell it in rather than the 90 mins you'd have in a film, but all involved seem to suit their roles well and give good performances.It's not perfect, but there are lots of strong moments within this mini series and I rate it as being stronger than the film version that followed a year later.

ruigrande I don't consider myself as an expert on Charles Dickens' adaptations for the screen, as I recognize it on some other reviewers, but, not knowing other ones, I simply loved this one.In Portugal we were always flooded with Dickens's tales. We practically grew up on them. And this mini-series is a wonderful document for the new generation of youngsters that don't have patience to read. In fact, I believe that this kind of documents may lead them to search for more tales loke this and look at reading books at a different perspective and see the wonders of it. This is a masterpiece. The photography is superb and the actors play wonderfully their parts. Even Estella, but I agree that a bit more charm and beauty would better fit Dickens' idea. I recommend it to everyone.

richard-h-parker I tried hard to check my own Great Expectations at the door but I could not help make comparisons to David Lean's classic film and of course Dickens superb book. Gillian Anderson was just flat out wrong for the role of Miss Havisham. In the later scenes she actually looked much younger than her ward Estella. I could find no sympathy for any of the central characters, especially Joe Gargery who was played so brilliantly by Bernard Miles in Lean's film. The screenplay deviated so much from the original story that I felt as though certain characters had been invented for this production. I'm sure that viewers who are unfamiliar with Dickens works would find this quite entertaining, but for me the whole thing missed the mark. I sincerely hope this is not the start of a new trend in classic adaptations. The 'Muppets Christmas Carol' is a more faithful (and entertaining) adaptation of the original story.

dave As a Dickens tragic I am well aware that adapting his novels for dramatic performance, whether on stage, TV or on film, will always pose problems, but there have been some triumphant successes. David Lean's being notable, but also the more recent examples: Bleak House -(sublime) and Little Dorrit (brilliant - twice). I have a set of earlier BBC attempts at other Dickens novels on DVD and some of them are toe-curlingly embarrassing - and prove that a good screenwriter is the most important ingredient for success. This production of Great Expectations was good - just. Ray Wintone was born to play Abel Magwitch, and whilst I initially stepped back in amazement at Gillian Anderson's performance as Miss Havisham, I was finally convinced that she was right; her child-like approach fits in with the psychology of a young bride jilted and bitter - excellent. My problems were not particularly with the cast, most of whom were very good, but with the liberties taken with Dicken's plot. The "brothel" scene was unnecessary - why insert "new stuff" when you have left out some old stuff. Much of the dialogue lacked 19th Century authenticity - why tinker about with an aspect of Dicken's writing which has always been seen as one of his greatest strengths? Do the producers think that we are not clever enough to understand? I hope the production of Edwin Drood is better.