David Copperfield

For 1974, which was the early days of recorded tv productions, this is an excellent production. So much so that it seems newer and bigger in budget than the unnecessary readaptation only a mere 12 years later in 1986. It is 6 hours which is substantial time but you are rewarded for your efforts because you get to know the characters of David copperfield like no other adaptation allows. At this length it never feels slow although is at risk of getting bogged down a little in the 3rd-4th hour but I think this is the nature of the novel, not much drama happens i this section. The characters are perfectly cast and are all memorable as true to their Dickensian archetypes. So much so that in my minds eye i probably associate all the characters with the actors from this version first. Young Jonathan Kahn is perhaps my favourite David, he is such a sweet good natured young boy, so to be challenged by the difficult world ahead of him. Not available online as of 2021 but well worth getting the dvd for perhaps the definitive David copperfield. Skip the 1986 version.

I found it interesting that in this five hour production of David Copperfield, it was still necessary to do some substantial editing, all in the interest of time, no doubt. For example, a wonderful character like Mrs. Gummidge is not well developed, and to understand her, you would have to have read the novel. Likewise, there's no mention of the alligator book. Small details, I know, but very apparent as you're viewing. By the time I reached the last episode, the story was getting a little tiresome, but I think that's true of the novel, too. The part of the adult Agnes, however, is played by Gail Harrison, and for that bit of brilliant casting, I say Bravo! She is absolutely lovely.

This production attempts to efface the Hollywood version of more than thirty years before. Arthur Lowe and Martin Jarvis are wonderfully effective as Wilkins Micawber and Uriah Heep - avoiding too close a resemblance to W.C. Fields and Roland Young. Mrs Micawber is hilariously overblown, played by Patricia Routledge, and Patience Collier, the battily eccentric Aunt Betsey Trotwood, seems to live the part. In fact Patience Collier seems to have stepped straight out of the 19th century. Her magnificent impatience with Heep and her stoicism in the face of adversity are beautifully modulated. Not to be forgotten, Liz Smith as Mrs Heep. Though she and Steerforth's mother are socially poles apart, they both have the same obsessive and overindulgent relationships with their sons, which Diskens identifies as a source of evil. While Mrs Heep is more venal in simply being overborne by her son's dishonesty, Mrs Steerfoth has covered up a truly nast piece of domestic violence and pays the penalty daily by having the scourge of Rosa Dartle at her elbow. This Dickens portrait of family life is seldom seen in dramatisations. Mrs Steerforth (Sheila Keith) and Rosa Dartle (Jacqueline Pearce)- brought out a feature of the book which is often glossed over in productions because studios want to make it family viewing. This series didn't make that mistake although it was designed for Sunday teatime viewing. The sado-masochistic relationship between Rosa Dartle and Steerforth (and, to some extent his mother) and the suggestion of prepubescent homosexual attachment of David to Steerforth are implied. In fact, the scenes between Rosa and Steerforth/Mrs Steerforth, and between David and James Steerforth are where both the book and this production rwally talk to adults. A BBC dramatisation that ought to be better remembered.

This was a great TV version, with some great British character actors, but it was surpassed IMO by the BBC's version of 8 years earlier. Colin Jeavons was the definitive Uriah Heep - his ubiquitous refrain "ever so 'umble" became quite a catchphrase in the UK at the time.

Unfortunately I suspect the 1966 TV version (which was in B&W) has long since been lost. The IMDB entry for it is very skimpy.

They were all "right"! A wonderful Micawber and wife in Arthur Lowe and Patricia Routledge. The best Uriah I have ever encountered in Martin Jarvis and, of course, the incomparable Liz Smith as Ury's mum. For me it puts the later adaptations to shame. Oh, if only it were available on DVD - vain hope?