Charles Dickens : 200th Anniversary Collection (Great Expectations / Little Dorritt / Oliver Twist / Bleak House) [DVD]

Really enjoyed all four of these productions, many happy hours of viewing. Highly recommend

This box set comprises nine discs in all: Little Dorrit 4 discs, Bleak House 3 discs and Great Expectations and Oliver Twist one disc each. There are several additional features embracing interviews with actors, photo galleries and other background items such as staging, and the set also includes an introductory booklet.If we've read the books it's often easy to say: 'That's not like it was in the book.' With these four adaptations I found Oliver Twist to be least like Dickens' original work, but I didn't mind because, for me, the adaptation was actually an improvement on the original. As some of us will have discovered, Dickens is not the easiest Victorian writer to read. Sometimes he does 'go on a bit' and his characters are often more in the nature of being caricatures. So much so, in fact, that some of them can get a bit silly at times.I've always preferred reading George Elliot, Mrs Gaskill, the Bronte sisters, Anthony Trollope and Thacheray, which is why I absolutely love to have Dickens on disc. You don't have ever to have read any of Dickens' novels to enjoy watching all of these adaptations. We can always nit pick, but it's hard to see how any of them could have been adapted much better. Since Little Dorrit is one of the strongest characters ever created by Dickens, it's inspiring to see her so well portrayed as in this production.I could go on to quote more examples of how well other characters are acted, but there's really no need because the BBC has made such a good job of adapting these four novels that all that is needed is for reviewers to encourage others to 'watch and enjoy'. The adaptations are of the kind that will bear watching over and over again. I'm old enough to remember the days when many Suffolk villages still had their blacksmiths' forges and farriers shoeing facilities or 'traverses' as we used to call them. The sound of hammer on anvil, the smell of burning hoof and the whinnying of horses were among my earliest memories. There was even an eccentric old wealthy lady and, I too, had to eventually leave my rural idyll to make my way in the world. Here we have an inspirational adaptation of 'Great Expectations', arguably the best of all Dickens' novels.My father was born just a few months after Dickens died and I grew up among people who had started life as Victorians. Every day I continue to meet people who are so like the characters in these wonderful adaptations. I even know a lady who keeps birds in an aviary that fly all round you when you go inside it – just like it happens in Bleak House, which in this box set comes across as a truly all time great adaptation. I'll say no more other than to emphasise that, if you love well made films you can do no better than to invest in this box set, which so skilfully honours the genius of the one and only Charles Dickens.

I had seen Bleak House and Great Expectations before I bought this dvd set. I had enjoyed them so much I was willing to gamble on the other two. They did not disappoint.I had never come across the story of little Dorrit. I have now watched the adaptation and read the book. I am also now reading Bleak House and suprising myself that I haven't done this before.There is also Oliver Twist and it is shorter than the others but just as gripping and well acted.My only criticism is one of information. The episodes aren't a consistent length and it is impossible to know how long each episode is until you start it (and get your device to display time remaining). Consistent episode length would have made it easier to watch, or choose to watch, but I loved the 1/2 episodes in Little Dorrit and possibly Bleak House.Overall a great box set of some of the most stunning, disturbing, compelling, and heartwarming viewing I have seen in a long time.

Superlatives were invented for this! The production values on these BBC Dickens adaptations are breathtakingly high; the direction is masterful; and the acting superb. These are simply wonderful productions which draw you in from the very first.Little Dorrit is my favourite of the set - heartache and passion delivered through fantastic acting. Brilliant.Bleak House is also wonderful - tragedy, longing and intrigue. Superb.Oliver Twist is excellent and the perfect antidote to that irksome 1968 musical.Great Expectations was my least favourite. It is still good, though I think Pip is miscast, and it feels a little hurried compared to the others.This is TV classic drama at its very very best.

We were into Dickens at the moment,having watched "Bleak House" over a two week period made my wife and I start reading again.The 200th Anniversary Collection did not appear to indicate which DVDs it consisted of,when I ordered it,but it contained Great Expectations,Little Dorrit,Oliver Twist and.........Bleak House! All the productions were vintage BBC, and ,as I recall, follow the books closely. The books were the soaps of their time, and by watching one episode at a time we felt that we were experiencing the "pot-boiler" aspect of Charles Dickens's works, and looked forward to the next evening's entertainment.If you like Dickens,these are all good examples of his works,and the Collection is very good value for money when compared to the individual prices of the DVDs. John

Every one of the programmes/films in this collection is beautifully filmed and well portrayed by brilliant acting. When the BBC have the right people in place and an associate company with Rebecca Eaton as Executive Producer you can't go wrong. Non Dickens: Look out for the excellent Wolf Hall. You'll often find her name on the better ITV productions as well...e.g. Downton Abbey & Endeavour.... and many, many more!

Great collection. Some of the best versions of Dickens ever filmed I think. I especially loved 'Little Dorritt' which is the one I really bought it for but found that 'Oliver Twist' and 'Bleak House' were both brilliant - I missed these when they were on tv. 'Great Expectations' didn't quite hit the spot for me although there were some wonderful performances in it however I think the Pip and Estella weren't particularly convincing.

This box set comes with four fantastic BBC adaptations of Dickens tales: Bleak house (3 Discs), Little Dorrit (4 Discs), Great Expectations (1 Disc) and Oliver Twist (1 Disc). BBC are the best at adapting from page to screen with their high quality actors and storytelling. I highly recommend to anyone who loves the likes of Jane Austen, the Bronte Sisters and Charles Dickens or anyone who enjoys good quality storytelling.

The dvd came in it's original packing, unused, at a reasonable price and at a low shipping cost, when it was expected. Thanks!

Era lo que esperaba.

A very good interpretation but the actress performing Lady Dedlock's daughter is repellent, and after the smallpox thing it is almost too much to bear

I am disappointed because I was not able to play these DVDs on my player. So now I have a set of DVDs I can’t use. I emailed the seller but did not hear back.

I am glad Amazon makes quality collections like this one available to the public. I have always read Charles Dickenson and this is a superb collection. Thank you.