My Thoughts on BBC Little Dorrit (2009)

My sister and I had seen this miniseries advertised for a while and I had heard from various reliable sources of its merits, so Sadie Ann and I finally borrowed it from the library and watched it last week. It was more or less what I'd expected; the usual Dickens fare-- very dark, very intricate story, Alun Armstrong, you know-- and although it was very well-done and I did enjoy it, I didn't love it like I did Nicholas Nickleby or Bleak House. I didn't seem to like the characters quite as much, and some of them were a bit hard to figure. Not only that, but it was just so tragic that it took a deal of perseverance to get through the whole thing. In fact, I found myself thinking, this is even more tragic than Great Expectations! Heaven forbid, right? Do not misunderstand me-- I did like it (even though it may not sound that way!), it just wasn't my favourite.

Claire Foy and Matthew McFadyen as Amy Dorrit and Arthur Clennam

First of all, Amy Dorrit and Arthur Clennam were both very satisfactory characters. It didn't take long at all for me to like them both very much, especially Arthur (and of course it was even better that he was played by Matthew McFadyen!) Amy was a fine girl, with no nonsense about her, and a truly inspiring heroine because she was so faithful and so optimistic (well, mostly), and so steadfast in her love for Arthur. And Arthur.... well, I really don't know how to describe how much I liked him! After watching it I resolved to definitely put him on my favourite heroes list, and he is probably one of my very favourite Dickens heroes-- second only to Nicholas Nickleby, of course.



Tom Courtenay as William Dorrit

Probably the character I had the most difficulty with was Mr. Dorrit. At first, I thought he was a very sweet old man and I felt terribly sorry for him, but then after he was released from the Marshalsea prison and began acting so proud and deceitful and downright horrid, I almost despised him. Seeing him go mad was rather torturous; the scene at Mrs. Merdle's ball was work, to put it nicely. And then he was so cruel to poor John Chivery! I felt like slapping him for threatening him so, especially when John had been so kind to him. Actually, for about the last six episodes or so I wanted to dunk Mr. Dorrit's head in a bucket of icy water anyway, so then when he was so heartless to my poor dear John.... well, it was the straw that broke the camel's back. So even as horrible and unfeeling as this may sound, when he finally died (I say 'finally'), it was almost.......a relief. (I know, I know-- for shame!) But seriously, I think that it may have been  for the best, because, let's face it, he was pretty much biting the dust already.



Judy Parfitt as Mrs. Clennam

Mrs. Clennam was a piece of work. It didn't take long to form a proper judgement of her, and that was that she was horrible and merciless-- even to her own son; especially to her own son. So no, I didn't like her a bit. Next!



Alun Armstrong as Jeremiah Flintwinch

Alun Armstrong was brilliant, as always, only remarkably grumpy and unpleasant this time. (Of course, I've only seen him in Bleak House, and in that he was one of my favourite characters, so maybe I was unprepared for just how unpleasant he can be. Now I know.) Also, he had a distinct neck issue, as though he's slept on it wrong and it never fully recovered: I'm sure I was not the only one who noticed it. I was also quite surprised when Flintwinch's brother showed up, and behold, there were two Alun Armstrongs! I went quite wild at that one.



Andy Serkis as Rigaud

Gollum Rigaud was one of the nastiest, wickedest, scariest, meanest, most horrible villains I have ever seen. Sink me, I can hardly bear to look upon him. I suppose I only added a picture simply because I'm such a firm believer in visual aid, don't you know. So if you haven't seen Little Dorrit (and if you haven't you probably should not be looking at this review , as it contains a few spoilers,) that's Rigaud. Isn't he disgusting? And of course it didn't help that he was a Frenchie. And what's that tune he's always whistling? I'll admit I was rather disappointed that we never got to know what his little ditty meant, but I'll also wager that I was not the only one. In short, I hated him. Because you're allowed to hate fictional characters, you know.




James Fleet as Frederick Dorrit



Russel Tovey as John Chivery

One of my favourite characters, besides Amy and Arthur, was Frederick Dorrit. He was so kind and gentle, especially to Amy, and the fact that he was a little queer only made him more endearing. And I loved it when he played his clarinet! Another character that I really loved was John Chivery-- poor, poor John Chivery! At first I thought he was, well, a bit of an idiot, but then it began to be very clear that he truly did love Amy and genuinely wanted what was best for her, and now I regret ever thinking such a thing! I very nearly burst into tears when he showed Arthur to Mr. Dorrit's old room and gave his heartbreaking "I did it for her!" speech. Poor, poor John Chivery. At the wedding, when he looked so sad and defeated, he reminded me of Hans in Daniel Deronda at Daniel and Mirah's wedding. I know that Amy loved Arthur and not John, but I still feel very, very sorry for him. (You're also allowed to feel sorry for fictional characters.  :)

Edmund Sparkler was probably the funniest character, with his high squeaky voice and his hilarious expressions. I laughed every time he called Fanny a "fine girl, with no nonsense about her." And I loved his facial expressions when everyone was congratulating him about his new job! "Shocking!"

Sebastian Armesto as Edmund Sparkler

The storyline, as one would expect, was very detailed and very well thought through. Well, hello. It's Dickens. Dickens never makes a mistake. I confess that I did get somewhat lost near the end-- my sister and I watched the last seven or eight episodes in a single afternoon, so by the end I was rather spent--and as ashamed as I am to admit it, I'm still not entirely certain who Amy's mother was. Actually, there was a time when I very nearly thought Amy and Arthur were brother and sister, (I know, I know!) but of course that would mean there was no possible way for them to be at all romantically inclined, and nothing seemed to change in that respect after they both found out who their parents were, so I quickly knocked that notion on the head. I figured out who Arthur's parents were, but I'm still not sure about Amy's.


  There were a lot of actors in this miniseries that I recognized from other period dramas-- in fact, almost every single one was familiar.


Matthew McFadyen (Arthur Clennam)-- Pride and Prejudice as Mr. Darcy

Alun Armstrong (Jeremiah Flintwinch)-- Bleak House as Inspector Bucket

Tom Courtenay (William Dorrit)-- Nicholas Nickleby as Newman Noggs

Judy Parfitt (Mrs. Clennam)-- Ever After as the Queen of France

Eddie Marsan (Mr. Pancks)-- Sherlock Holmes as the detective guy (he must have a name somewhere, but I can't for the life of me remember what it is.)

Ron Cook (Older John Chivery)-- Horatio Hornblower: Duty and Loyalty as steward James Douty

Anton Lesser (Mr. Merdle)-- Miss Potter as Fruing Warne

Andy Serkis (Rigaud)-- The Lord of the Rings as Gollum

James Fleet (Frederick Dorrit)-- Sense and Sensibility as John Dashwood and The Phantom of the Opera as Lefevre

Harriet Walter (Mrs. Gowan)-- Sense and Sensibility as Fanny Dashwood, Ballet Shoes as Dr. Smith and The Young Victoria as Queen Adelaide

Sebastian Armesto (Edmund Sparkler)-- Bright Star as Mr. Haslam

Bill Paterson (Mr. Meagles)-- Miss Potter as Rupert Potter, Amazing Grace as Lord Dundas, and Wives and Daughters as Dr. Gibson

Nicholas Jones (Merdle's grouchy butler)-- Horatio Hornblower: The Mutiny and The Retribution as Lieutenant Buckland

Ian McElhinney (Mr. Clennam)-- Horatio Hornblower: The Fire Ships, The Mutiny, The Retribution, Loyalty and Duty as Captain Hammond

Thomas Hardy (Tite Barnacle)-- Sense and Sensibility as Sir John Middleton

  Thus ends my first review, Little Dorrit. Actually, it doesn't seem fair to call it a review, because there is a lot I haven't mentioned, such as the scenery, the costumes, the music, and quite a few of the many characters. However, these are my general opinons on the miniseries. I think I would probably give it 7/10 stars, because as I stated before, it is very well-made and well-cast and all that, it just didn't strike my fancy as well as others. However, I would recommend it to any avid period drama admirer, like myself, who loves Dickens and wants something new to watch and is interested in expanding their reperetoire!




                       Very Truly,

                     Emma Jane