Oliver Twist

The BBC really know how to 'do' Dickens.

From Dudley Simpson's haunting title music to Eric Porter's sinister Fagin, this is truest adaptation of the book that I know.

The production values are spot-on, capturing the filth and seediness of Dickens' London. Michael Attwell is the most menacing of Bill Sykes and Ben Rodska makes Oliver innocent without being too goody-goody.

If that were not enough, the length of the production (6 hours) means that, for once, the sub-plots are included and the main plots are laid out as Dickens wrote them.

If 6 hours is too long then David Lean still represents the safest bet but, for the purist, this will probably never be improved upon.

I've seen a bunch of the others. This takes its time setting the long suffering Oliver and the terribly low characters persecuting him. The ending is more earned than the confines of appears in other versions. Great script and solid production for BBC 85.

I thought that this was an exceptional production, particularly because it starred a young Scott Funnell. At such a young age, his performance was nothing less than remarkable, evoking emotions on a primeval level. I cannot speak more highly of this young superstar, except to say that he has a bright future ahead, matched only by his aspirations and delusions of grandeur. The supporting cast put in an admirable performance too, despite the show stopping form displayed by the Funnell. It was something i wish i did in my youth. Watch this because you will soon find that nothing can match it for sheer pluck and tenacity.

Oliver Twist is one of Charles Dickens' most famous books and also one of his best. This adaptation is excellent, like most of the 70s-80s BBC Dickens serial adaptations, and ranks along with the 1948 David Lean film and the 1999 mini-series as one of the best adaptations of Oliver Twist as well as the most faithful. If there was anything that wasn't quite right(personal opinion of course) it was that Rose and Nancy could have been more affectionate with Oliver. Other than that, this is Dickens as it should be done. The costumes and sets are sumptuous as well as richly detailed, you can literally smell the grimy seediness which goes to show how strong the atmosphere is. The adaptation is also shot with natural skill and intricacy. The music is simple yet haunting, while the dialogue is very Dickenesian in spirit and thoughtfully written. The story is adapted faithfully, with Oliver being with Mr Sowerberry for five years and Monks being introduced earlier being the only really glaring liberties, and is told compellingly. Even with the long length and deliberate pacing, the adaptation never did feel tedious. The acting carries the production beautifully, Scott Funnell is an adorable younger Oliver, making an impression even when in just two of the twelve episodes, while Ben Rodska carries the rest of the adaptation in the same role- but older- with innocence and steel without falling into the sickly sweet category. Eric Porter's Fagin is wonderfully oily, vile and manipulative while Michael Attwell's Bill Sykes is both frightening and tormented. Amanda Harris is a vulnerable and sympathetic Nancy, and there's also the likable Rose Maylie of Lysette Anthony, Pip Donaghy's startling Monks and David Garlick's rascally Artful Dodger. There are fewer Mr Bumbles crueller and more grotesque than that of Godfrey James, Frank Middlemass is a kind and noble Mr Brownlow and Miriam Margoyles, Julian Firth and Gillian Martel also handle their roles adeptly. Overall, really excellent and will please any Dickens or literary fans. 9/10 Bethany Cox

This version keeps a lot more of the novel than most, but most of this material lacking in other versions covers the Maylie sub-plot, which is mawkish and conventional Victoriana.

Many reviewers have commented that the series does not stint on the squalor of Hanoverian London (the action takes place in pre-Victorian times). I actually disagree and feel that it sanitizes things. Reviewers write of the "cramped" rooms when I thought they were were more spacious than many a million pound flat in today's London.

The direction, camera-work and score were plodding TV quality only, and the actors in some parts unsubtle. Bill Sykes looked the part, and for once you could see why Nancy might have been attracted to him, but his acting skills were one-dimensional. I liked Eric Porter's Fagin. It was based on the Guinness version, but without the anti-semitic element which is embarrassing in the earlier movie.

Too many of the children's roles suggested middle-class kids from drama school.

I give the makers credit for faithfulness and not attempting smart-ass interpolations or anachronistic social comment, and maybe enjoyment would be enhanced by watching in the original 12 half-hour episodes, but viewing it purely as a "movie" it is fairly dull, especially compared to David Lean's masterpiece. Sharper editing would help to speed things along.