Grand collaboration of BBC with American PBS Boston Masterpiece Theatre on this adaptation by award-winning screenwriter of the latest "Pride & Prejudice" and "Bleak House," this seven Emmy Award winning "Outstanding Mini-Series" would thrill Dickens and if not already make "Little Dorritt" one of your favorite of the subscription tales spun by Victorian England novelist/social awareness & humanitarian conscience rouser Charles Dickens, on a par with "Nicholas Nickleby" and "A Christmas Carol."
Timeless everyman themes of life's ups & downs including unquenchable Cinderella hopes and romance fetchingly set in Victorian trimmings and starkly contrasting social caste drama is so mesmerizing that you won't even mind Dickens' too far-fetched mystery premise reveal at the end defying credulity but who cares about that post-script to the pre-eminent character developments & story lines interwoven in a Dickens tapestry of quirkily originals whose whimsical humorous names celebrating Britishness are as entertaining as their characters.
The appealingly attractively and/or intriguing cast serve up iconic Britishness in beautifully scripted expressions delivered with such clarity of enunciated diction that we across the Pond can get most of it too, with the exception of an occasional non-integral bit of idiom or low accent here or there; and transcend period/locale London gloom intermingled with a seachange in Venice, challenging viewers to imagine how we would respond in and to the situations and circumstances.
I won't be passing this along like most DVDs after savoring those meriting a second go-round, as this one's a keeper I'll have to buy more to gift others without hesitation since tastefully not raunchy nor graphic even when conveying the grimness of Marshalsea Debtors Prison the likes of which made offspring USA craft bankruptcy forgiveness & restitution laws and a rather more productive correctional system. I see no age rating on the series, but harsh or adult themes are so obliquely alluded that I would think most adults would be comfortable with a range of young adult age viewing, like much that went over my head in the classics when I was young and "ivory tower" sheltered from what 21st Century young are exposed to. Certainly this helps anyone appreciate our blessings, if only the freedom from the constricting apparel and unnaturally inactive lifestyle of the Victorian lady, and the less sophisticated amenities then of even urban living. Yet so much of the high tone and style has gone with it, that we moderns enjoy period dramas of the glories of days of yore.
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Prime Video
Little Dorrit
Season 1This gripping series by Andrew Davies brings to life Dickens's powerful story of struggle and hardship in 1820s London. When Arthur Clennam returns to England after many years abroad, his curiosity is piqued by the presence in his mother's house of a young seamstress, Amy Dorrit. Where will Arthur's quest to discover the truth leave him in the scheme of things? And where will it leave the Dorrits?
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Episodes (8)
- 1. Episode 1October 26, 200852minTV-PG
Amy Dorrit lives in the Marshalsea Prison for Debt with her father, William Dorrit, who has been an inmate there for countless years. After Amy is employed as a seamstress by the stern and formidable Mrs. Clennam, events are set in motion when Mrs. Clennam's son, Arthur, returns unexpectedly from China after an absence of fifteen years, bringing the news that his father has died. - 2. Episode 2October 30, 200852minTV-PG
Arthur strikes up a tentative friendship with Amy Dorrit and becomes reacquainted with his childhood sweetheart, Flora Casby, who is not quite as he remembered her. His mind is still on the pretty Pet Meagles, whom he met on his journey back to England. Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away in France, the sinister and coldblooded murderer Rigaud becomes reacquainted with his old cellmate, Cavalletto. - 3. Episode 3November 6, 200852minTV-PGJohn Chivery, sensing a rival in Arthur, decides to make his move and propose to Amy, but she turns him down. Arthur meanwhile, entirely ignorant of Amy's feelings for him, is also disappointed in love when he meets Pet's rival suitor, Henry Gowan. Cavalletto arrives in London, only to discover that he's been followed by the very man he came to England to get away from: Rigaud.
- 4. Episode 4November 13, 200852minTV-PGPancks busies himself with more investigating, proceeding to recruit John Chivery to help him with his enquiries. Determined to try his luck, Arthur returns to Twickenham to propose to Pet. Rigaud visits Mrs. Clennam's house, pretending that he's come on business.
- 5. Episode 5November 20, 200852minTV-PGThe Dorrits make their triumphant departure from the Marshalsea. Mr. Dorrit employs Mrs. General to offer instruction in etiquette to his daughters. Mrs. General suggests that the family goes on a Grand Tour and, before they know it, the Dorrits have left the country, where abroad they encounter Rigaud traveling with the newly-wed Gowans.
- 6. Episode 6November 27, 200852minTV-PGFanny worries about the burgeoning affection between Mr. Dorrit and Mrs. General. Back in England, Arthur visits his mother only to find Rigaud standing on her doorstep. Mr. Merdle secures a position for Sparkler at the Circumlocution Office and Arthur receives a shock when Pancks shows him an official handbill detailing the disappearance of Rigaud, last seen at the House of Clennam.
- 7. Episode 7December 7, 200852minTV-PG
Mr. Dorrit returns to England with the newlyweds, Fanny and Sparkler. Arthur decides to invest the capital of Doyce and Clennam in Merdle's bank and commissions Pancks to find Miss Wade in the hope that she can lead him to Rigaud. Mr. Dorrit meanwhile quickly settles into the London highlife, but faces constant reminders of his shameful past. - 8. Episode 8December 11, 200852minTV-PGMr. Merdle's death sends shockwaves through London, as thousands of people who invested in him now face financial ruin. One of those unfortunate people is Arthur, who finds himself in the Marshalsea Prison for Debt, where Amy rushes to his side. Rigaud re-emerges and reveals his full set of cards to Mrs. Clennam. But what exactly is it that he knows about the House of Clennam?
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More details
- Supporting actors
- Andy SerkisEddie Marsan
- Producers
- Lisa OsborneAnne Pivcevic
- Season year
- 2008
- Network
- BBC
- Content advisory
- Foul languagedrug usesexual contentnudityviolence
- Purchase rights
- Stream instantly Details
- Format
- Prime Video (streaming online video)
- Devices
- Available to watch on supported devices
Customer reviews
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2018
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Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2017
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Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2014
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Reviewed in the United States on November 27, 2009
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Top reviews from other countries
ChrisPduck
Faithful depiction by a perfect cast of characters
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 26, 2017Verified Purchase
V. M.
Nasty piece of blasphemy in Italian
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 17, 2021Verified Purchase
Rani
This BBC adaptation is Fab!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 21, 2016Verified Purchase
Grey Gregory
Simply the best version of one of Dicken's greatest works.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 6, 2019Verified Purchase
Ms S. I. Harr
Dickens' Little Dorrritt brought to life
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 20, 2017Verified Purchase
