Contos de Charles Dickens

It would have been delightful to enjoy the well-rounded Dickensian characters again this Christmas. Instead we have been bombarded with repeats of dramas seen several times already. What has happened to this wonderful series?

Absolutely fantastic, the cast, the characters are just amazing. The very best of British and so clever to combine different characters for this series 10 out of 10

Amazing show! Got so drawn in & wrapped up in characters, realizing it was over after Season 1 was a rude slap in the face. Well worth watching, but leaces you wanting more.

Given that I totally loathe Eastenders and its dreary premise, I was so surprised to find just how enjoyable Dickensian is. I recorded quite a few episodes but once I started watching I have fond it compulsive viewing. My only complaint is the casting of Stephen Rea as the detective, Bucket. Rea is not a great favourite of mine so I find it hard to be convinced by him. The other actors are, in my opinion, fantastically well cast. Pauline Collins is great as is Ned Dehenny as Scrooge. Everyone inhabits their parts very well. Production values are high and Victorian Britain is well portrayed here. The story is well written and plotted and makes a pleasant change from the dreadful Eastenders. It is interesting to see the show's take on Miss Havisham's fate which was never really fully explained in Great Expectations. I just hope that the standard remains as high as the series has been so far.

I must admit to being highly sceptical by the whole premise surrounding Dickensian. Having studied several of the great works for English lit the thought of combining characters seemed like a grand scale disaster, but to my utter amazement, it's cohesive, logical and has become utterly addictive viewing. I find the scheduling a little all over the place, it seems to go out at random times, so I enjoy catching up with it at work having lunch.

Fantastic production values as one would expect from the BBC, the camera work is slick, the costumes and sets are world class, but it's the scripts and the acting that are making the show for me, am loving Anton Lesser's Fagin, and Ned Dennehy's interesting portrayal of Scrooge. I barely recognised Caroline Quentin.

I appreciate the subtle touches of humour too, it could have easily been grim viewing, but far from it. Love it. 8/10