David Copperfield

I remember this adaptation from the 80's. I saw it on Masterpiece Theater when I lived in the US. I had it in my personal video collection and watched it over and over again. I thought it was perfect. Simon Callow as Macawber was brilliant. I would love to see it again. I wonder if writing to the BBC would help.

Because it was 10 episodes long, it was very faithful to the book and the attention to detail was excellent.

Every characterization was spot on from Aunt Betsy Trotwood and Mr Dick to the vile Murdstone. The acting was superb.

I also think that the BBC's adaptation of Oliver Twist from around the same time was the best.

I enjoyed this production so much I am still seeking a copy of it 20 years later. Simon Callow's portrayal was the best Wilkins Micawber ever! What a thrill to hear him shout,"You,you, Heep of infamy!" I have yet to find another production of David Copperfield that I like as much as this one from 1986. The musical score was so appealing. The entire cast was exceptional. I just finished watching the 1999 ExxonMobil Masterpiece Theater production with a very young Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter)and it was also very excellent. This version includes a masterful performance by Maggie Smith as Aunt Betsey Trotwood. However, I still find myself longing to watch this 1986 version again. Colin Hurley will always be my favored vision of Mas'r Davy. Thorley Walters will always be my Mr. Dick. I do hope the BBC will release this on DVD. I would buy it in a heartbeat!

This is a beautifully scripted and acted version of the Dickens novel. The mini-series form allows the most detailed and complete rendition yet. Performances are especially fine, with three fine young Davids (though none to compare with the definitive Freddie Bartholomew), and a Mr. Macawber by Simon Callow to rank with the classic W.C.Fields. This is the only adaptation I've seen to rival the wonderful David O. Selznick Hollywood B&W film. This surely will sound like heresy to many British folk, but Selznick's film sets the stage for his masterful paring-down of Gone With the Wind, and gives the essentials for our enjoyment. Still, I wish this BBC mini-series would be issued for home video (ONE multi-layered DVD would do it). Then I could play it for my bright young nieces. Such exposure MIGHT even lead them to read the book when they get a little older, just as the Selznick did for me. Top marks all round!!

It's about as thorough an adaptation of a Dickens novel that one could hope for, but unfortunately I just couldn't get myself immersed in it due to the community-theater-quality acting. Lady Trotwood was the only believable character in the first episode. The others... well, it wouldn't be fair to call them "bad" exactly. If this were a high-school one-act play, you'd pat them on the back and tell them "well done". But for a BBC production of one of history's all-time great novels? Not for a moment did I forget that I was watching actors. It's a shame, because again, it's quite thorough -- superior in that regard to several other adaptations.

Like another person who posted here, I have a fond memory of this BBC miniseries presented here in the States on Masterpiece Theater on PBS. I have been hoping that it will pop up on home video at some point. I see IMDB doesn't have complete cast/crew details for this one and I'm hoping that someone will supply them eventually. It's great to see another person remembering and requesting this fine adaptation, which as I recall appeared on PBS just after another treat, the "Fortunes of War" miniseries that brought Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson together for the first time.