Great Expectations (1989 miniseries)

branie2

Anyone here see this TV adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic novel? It was very good, and starred our own Ray McNally as Mister Jaggers.

The Crowman

Is that the one with Anthony Hopkins as the Convict?

branie2

Yes it is

The Crowman

I remember reading about it at the time but I don't think I've watched it. The version that sticks with me the most is the early 80's BBC version with Stratford Johns as the convict, I found him terrifying.

branie2

Jean Simmons, who played Miss Havisham in this series, played the young Estella in the 1946 film version.

I loved this version, I think Disney made it. Anthony Hopkins was excellent as Magwich. Pip was played by Anthony Calf. It was repeated on RTE 3 or 4 years later

George White

Deleted User wrote: »

I loved this version, I think Disney made it. Anthony Hopkins was excellent as Magwich. Pip was played by Anthony Calf. It was repeated on RTE 3 or 4 years later

Disney with HTV.
What it was that it was part of the ITV answer to the BBC's longstanding Sunday Classic/Children's Classic/Sunday Serial slot, which is where the 81 BBC Great Expectations aired. The 81 one was produced by Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks, who had worked on Doctor Who, another series of serials that like the Sunday Classic, was considered a kids' show despite being made by the drama department not the kids' department.
By 1991, though the Sunday Classic had been replaced by the various Narnia serials and Return of the Psammead, all made by the children's department alongside Wonderworks, a Disney-PBS coproduction venture for adapting classic children's books, which started with the BBC's Box of Delights. The Sunday classic were considered stale, and unprofitable, and lacked Disney interaction, so...