David Copperfield
Critique • Text • At the movies
Serial, 1849Original title
The Personal History, Adventures, Experience, and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger, of Blunderstone Rookery
Also known as
The Personal History of David Copperfield
First publication
1849–1850 in instalments
First book publication
1850 in two volumes
Literature form
Novel
Genres
Literary, buildungsroman, autobiographical novel
Writing language
English
Author's country
England
Length
Approx. 357,000 words
Betsy Trotwood receives a surprise visit from grown-up David in 1986 David Copperfield serial.
The compleat Dickens story
David Copperfield (1986): Television miniseries, ten episodes, approx. five hours; director Barry Letts; writer James Andrew Hall; featuring Colin Hurley, Brenda Bruce, Thorley Walters, Simon Callow, Jeremy Brudenell, Paul Brightwell, Owen Teale
The 1986 BBC serial may be hard to find and is less remembered than other David Copperfield adaptations, but if you want to get the full story as created by Charles Dickens, this one is worth looking for. It's not the most scintillating take on the famous novel but its ten episodes of half an hour each cover its plots and subplots as comprehensively as any Dickens fan could desire.
Of course, even with five hours to use, some condensation of the novel's 900-plus pages is necessary. But this is accomplished without any obvious major cuts or sudden jumps that plague other, shorter adaptations. Kudos to writer James Andrew Hall, who wrote several other classic miniseries in the 1980s.
Mr Micawber (Simon Callow) entertains David and his friend.
Still this is the 1980s so you expect the BBC production to be somewhat old-fashioned—stagey and slow at time. The BBC at its theatrical height. Authoritative, respectful of the original material, edging up to but never quite crossing over into dullness. Masterpiece theatre.
What entertainment value there is may be thanks engaging performances from all the classically trained British actors.
At the centre naturally is Colin Hurley as the title character in his adult years. Playing a thinly-disguised version of Dickens himself, he may come across as slightly bland but that's all the better to reflect the eccentric Dickensian characters that surround him. It's also nice to see a smooth transition from the young David, the actors' similar appearances helped by the two sporting identical golden curls. I failed to detect exactly when the switch was made.
Of the eccentrics around David, the most appropriately delightful are his batty great-aunt Betsy Trotwood (Brenda Bruce) and her even battier housemate Mr Dick (Thorley Walters).
Simon Callow was acclaimed for his performance as the good-hearted spendthrift Micawber. But he takes some getting used to because with his skinhead appearance he just doesn't look as how I've always imagined him. Though he grew on me.
As this whole production may if you give it a chance.
— Eric
