Grandi speranze

It got worse and worse. It started out ok. There were a few instances of context that are not in Dickens, references to opium and the slave trade, and there was some clunky dialogue where women explained they were not ok with second class citizenship. That was ok. I felt it was unnecessary personally but I can see the temptation to make obvious to a modern audience what is implied or inferred.

By episode three it went off into scenes that are not in the book in any way and dialogue that has nothing to do with the novel. It is also slow paced. So much plodding music and a brooding boy. Makes you wonder why it was made.

Dickens was a wonderfully descriptive writer- but there's no richness of story in the first episode.

It is like watching a plodding unimaginative story recounted in a flat voice by someone who can't be bothered.

It isn't the cast's fault- indeed the casting is probably the best part of this version.

I found the relationship between Pip and Joe curiously cold.

I simply found I couldn't care about what happened next.

Perhaps some previous versions have just been too good.

My all time favourite was years ago-with a wonderful Stratford Johns playing Magwitch. I was hoping for something like that this time.

I don't think I'll watch the rest.

It has made me want to re-read the book again.

It's okay for a movie or show to depart from the book it's based on, but if it does then don't we want it to at least do something interesting with the differences? If this series chooses to show Pip as a moody romantic teenager rather than as a child, then couldn't he at least be given some personality? The screenwriters do keep some bits of Dickens' writing -- which stand out from the rest of the wooden dialog -- but otherwise there's no individuality in the characters: they all speak more or less the same way, even those (such as Joe and Pumblechook) from completely different backgrounds. The show is all atmosphere and scenery at the expense of acting and story.

Several of my favorite actors are in this adaptation, and I really wanted to love it. With every episode, I hated this version more and more. The entire thing strayed so far from the book and other adaptations. I get the creative license and interpreting it in a unique way, but my great expectations for this adaptation did not come to fruition. I think my disappointment was in the Pip storyline most of all. There were a few things I did like about this interpretation but it was from other characters mostly. I know Great Expectations is generally depressing, but this version was so extremely depressing and full of heartache and negative scenes (even gross scenes), that it really turned me off. I will not be watching this version again (I have previous versions on DVD).

I have to be honest, I groaned when I heard that this was being remade, with the array of possibilities, this seemed like a very uninspired choice.

I am curious as to some of the one and ten star ratings, neither made any sense to me at all, I simply don't see how it can evoke such strong feelings either way.

The word that came to my mind, was predictable, from the casting, to the visuals, right down to the presence of Olivia Colman, it's almost as if The BBC has tried to go right back to basics, but they've just missed the mark.

As you'd expect from The BBC it's very well made, it's also very well acted, no issue with either quality, but it just lacked something, I can't say I feel enthralled by further episodes. It's guilty of being dull.

It feels so unnecessary , and it is by far the weakest made for television adaptation to date, I grew up as a kid with the terrific adaptation starring Anthony Hopkins and Jean Simmons, it never left me, I find it hard to picture this leaving such a mark on anyone.

It looks great, some of the language used feels out of place, but it lacks any real sparkle.

5/10.