Oliver Twist

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

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.

This is an excellent version, well-acted, long enough to permit inclusion of Dickens' myriad confusing plots that keep the viewer guessing. It is broken into 12 28-minute episodes, reminiscent of the way Dickens serialized his novels. I dare anybody to watch just one - every one's a cliffhanger inviting you onwards. The acting is outstanding, though the strong dialect caused me to miss some lines. As Scott Funnell has noted in an earlier comment, the child actor who coincidentally has the same name does an outstanding job (and is rather adorable) as the young Oliver, as does the actor playing the larger (but according to Scott less important) role of the older Oliver.

This is one of a whole series of superb BBC adaptations of the major Dickens novels, every one a gem. Like some of the others, the DVD re-release of Oliver Twist includes as an extra an excellent performance by Simon Callow as Charles Dickens, reading a lengthy passage from the novel, recreating Dickens' own reading tours that played to packed houses. Don't miss it!

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 have seen virtually all of the version of Oliver Twist. This one is difficult to come by now in the UK, I had to buy a dutch DVD and use an old DVD player. However, I was not disappointed as this is by far the most complete and definitive version of Oliver Twist. This version adheres very closely to the novel. Usually in Oliver adaptations you have the workhouse stuff at the beginning, then as soon as Oliver gets to London it is virtually then a story about Fagin and Bill Sykes and it uses the gritty romance of these characters to carry the rest of the story home. But it is not a story of Fagin, it is called Oliver Twist. And more specifically, Oliver Twist, the Parish Boy's Progress. This version really keeps Oliver and his challenges and progress through his young life as central to the story. We learn in full depth about his scheming relative Monks and all of his family relations as they come to learn about each other, stuff that is sometimes left out entirely but which is absolutely essential for the story to make sense. Fagin was just as cruel a human being as Bill Sykes and spends the entire novel trying to exploit him for his own ends. Often this is lost in Oliver adaptations which romanticise the life of the thieves as if they were dodgy but well-meaning members of the underclass.

But it is not simply because it the most faithful that this version is in my opinion the definitive. The production and casting is just perfect too. There is no greater Bill Sykes than Michael Atwell (sorry oliver reed), Amanda Harris is fantastic as Nancy, and Eric Porter does a great Fagin too. Ben Rodska is perhaps not as easily lovable as Mark Lester but he is very sweet and does a great job.

This to my mind is the only version of Oliver worth watching now. Oliver! 1968 will have a fond place in many peoples hearts, and has great music and the perfect Mr Bumble (Harry Secombe). But at the end of the day it is not truly Oliver Twist. Alec Guinness perhaps does the perfect Fagin in David Lean's 1948 version. But make sure you see this for the complete Oliver experience. The story and characters will make so much more sense to you.