The Charles Dickens Collection, Vol. 1 (Oliver Twist / Martin Chuzzlewit / Bleak House / Hard Times / Great Expectations / Our Mutual Friend)

Although I liked the stories told by most of these classics by Dickens - there were some I preferred over others. Other reviewers have commented on the DVD quality but I have had no problems with any of theDVD's I have bought on Amazon - either new or used. I am carful to buy only from retailers on Amazon thathave the highest reviews!!!!! I bought this collection new when it was first available and have watched several many times with the exception of Great Expectations and Bleak House. I believe that Bleak Househas one of the most complex set of characters in any book I have ever read. The movie, at least for me,did not solve that problem. I went to a Barnes & Noble and found a Dickens Anthology that had reviews of all of Dickens' works. If you are a Dickens fan this might prove helpful when reading/and or watching Dickens!!!

I don't know about Oliver Twist, Great Expectations or Bleak House but I have been waiting a long time for Martin Chuzzlewitt, Our Mutual Friend and Hard Times. Starting with MC: unless you watch alot of Masterpiece Theater you may not recognize any of the actors but that won't hurt the story which is well and clearly told about money, greed, family (relatives near and distant rather than loved ones), kindness, friendship, love and forgiveness. The villians are especially well portrayed - you just have to hate them. I picked up the VHS of OMF on a whim because I like Dickens and was absolutely delighted. The well told themes are similar to MC but without as much of the family connection. Again you're not likely to recognize many of the actors but who cares, the love story is every bit as good as the one in Great Expectations and with far fewer impediments to fulfillment. As for HT - on Masterpiece Theater it was introduced as Dickens Darkest story and it truly is. Don't watch this if you want a happy ending - there isn't one unless it is what happens to the school master's not to wise son and to the girl from the circus. I've never seen BH so have no opinion except I think I remember vaguely that Diana Rigg starred in it. On the whole a collection well worth the money. I haven't actually seen these in their dvd format but have purchase other dvd collections from this source and found the production values to be excellent for picture and sound quality. I only gave 4 stars because I couldn't tell from the picture if OT and GE are dvd's that have been previously released or older renditions of these classic stories that I somehow missed when they were originally broadcast.

All these titles-with the exception of "Hard Times"-are in episode form,previouly shown weekly by the BBC.The advantage of this format is the inclusion of many more characters and side-stories than the 2 to 3 hours a movie can possibly include.Throw in superb acting and directing plus intelligent editing and each title becomes an epic in its own right."Hard Times", being Dickens shortest novel, is covered in one complete movie.As a bonus the set includes no less than three half hour features:[1]Simon Callow reads to a live audience from "Oliver Twist".The scene is possibly the most famous in all Dickens literature; the murder of Nancy by Sykes.[2]A dramatisation of one of Dickens ghost stories,"The Signalman".[3]A background documentary to "Our Mutual Friend",which among other things explains the origins and purposes of "dust heaps"without which parts of the story become unclear.All in all this set provides many hours[32 plus]of pleasure for a miniscule purchase price.Graeme Yardley[Christchurch,New Zealand]

The films appear to be well done and the actors are quite good. The quality of the film is not so good. On two of them, I found that they did not play well at all during parts of the play, breaking into pixels and then stopping completely. This appears to be a flaw in the DVDs rather than in the original materials. The lighting is quite dark - but much of Dickens is dark, so how could it be otherwise. I'm not talented at understanding the accents of some of the actors, especially the female ones, but this is my fault and not that of the materials.Overall, they were quite good and well worth the cost. I would buy more like this.

I am certainly glad that the BBC didn't give us "high paced" cut-down versions of Dickens' novels--as one Amazon reviewer suggested would have improved these. In fact, the films follow the novels closely, with all of Dickens' quirky characters, such as Jaggers and Wemmick from "Great Expectations."Dickens had his faults, to be sure, but they are faults of the period in which they were written, e.g., the over-use of coincidences to tighten the plots, being the greatest fault to a 21st century reader/viewer. However, Dickens' sense of time and place and his creation of memorable characters far overshadow this and make his works delightful.The production values, the acting, the sets are first-rate in these productions. But if you want car chases and sex scenes, you may want to look elsewhere. Try the James Bond films.

This six disc set is a fantastic example of BBC's drama prowess. However, Dickens is not for romantics or the faint of heart, and these renditions tend to be very detailed, and very long. Over five hours of viewing a single story might turn some drama "light-weights'" off, but I really enjoyed the renditions of Bleak House, Oliver Twist and Great Expectations.Our Mutual Friend and Martin Chuzzlewit were definitely my favorites - they're probably the most light-hearted of the collection, while still doing justice to the stinging social critique that Dickens is famous for.The performances, sets and costumes are fantastic. Like Dickens himself, I found them very dark and moody. They certainly outdo any TV or Hollywood version of the same stories I've seen.I also really enjoyed some of the special features, especially the bonus short film "The Signalman" starring Denholm Elliot. This is a great ghost story for a stormy night! There is also a 30 minute documentary about Victorian society.You might have trouble convincing some of your friends and family to view these movies with you, but all in all, they are a great addition to the drama or Dickens lovers collection.

The adaptations are well done. My only disappointment is that I got two copies of Oliver Twist and no Martin Chuzzlewit. I didn't notice until I had watched my way through the others.