User Comments:
Entertaining and (mostly) accurate, 11 August 2004
Author:
F Gwynplaine MacIntyre ([email protected]) from Minffordd, North Wales
The excellent scriptwriter Wolf Mankowitz has surpassed himself in 'Dickens
of London', a miniseries recounting the life of Charles Dickens from early
boyhood till his death.
One of the cliches of biographical drama is the tendency to tell the story
in flashback, with the central figure looking back on his or her life from
the vantage of old age ... or even narrating from beyond the grave. There is
a sound practical reason for this particular device: the actor or actress
cast in the central role is usually too old to portray the biographical
subject in early youth. So, we start out with a scene depicting the
character in middle age or older, to get the audience accepting that James
Cagney is really George M. Cohan, or Julie Andrews is really Gertrude
Lawrence. Once that linkage is made, the flashback can
begin.
Each episode of 'Dickens of London' is a separate flashback, with the same
framing device every time. We see Roy Dotrice, pale and drawn, as Dickens
lying in his deathbed. In real life, Dickens's death was precipitated by his
exertions during a stage tour, in which he strenuously acted out the murder
of Nancy Sikes in 'Oliver Twist'. As Dickens languishes in bed, he speaks to
Mr. Dolby, the manager of his final tour, prompting memories of earlier
phases in Dickens's life. (Cue the flashback.) There are occasional
interruptions, as when Dickens is visited by a masked intruder, claiming to
be the original of Dickens's creation Mr Pickwick, and demanding
compensation.
Wolf Mankowitz's research is impeccable, and this series is extremely
accurate, but inevitably there is some invention and fictionalising. Charles
Dickens stated that the character of Wilkins Micawber in 'David Copperfield'
was inspired by his own father John Dickens, a failed civil servant who went
to debtors' prison during Charles's childhood. Here, we see John Dickens
speaking epigrams that will eventually become dialogue spoken by Micawber in
Charles Dickens's novel. I seriously doubt that such material was actually
handed to Dickens in a manner like this, but it's very
entertaining.
Regrettably, but perhaps out of necessity, the central role of Charles
Dickens is played by three different actors: a boy in the first episode,
when young Charles is forced to work in a blacking factory so that his
pampered sister can have dancing lessons. Gene Foad is a dullish Charles in
the next two episodes, when Dickens as a stagestruck young man endeavours to
become a playwright and actor. Roy Dotrice plays Charles Dickens (very well)
for most of the series, ageing as the episodes progress.
Dotrice also plays Dickens's impecunious father John, and there are some
unintentionally bizarre moments in the fourth episode when Roy Dotrice plays
long sequences opposite himself, portraying father and son in long dialogue
scenes! Possibly for budgetary reasons, this production does not plump for
double-exposure, so the camera must dizzyingly cut back and forth between
two separate Roy Dotrices, never getting them both in the same
shot.
Diana Coupland is excellent as Charles Dickens's mother, but I'm so used to
seeing her as Jean Abbott that I kept expecting her to shout 'Sid!'. The
supporting cast are excellent as well, including Ben Kingsley pre-Oscar.
'Dickens of London' is probably the best - most entertaining and most
accurate - dramatisation of Charles Dickens's life that will ever be made.
Inevitably, some important things have been left out ... such as Dickens's
long relationship with his mistress, who once helped him tend to the wounded
when they were caught in a railway accident. Despite some flaws, I'll rate
'Dickens of London' a full 10 out of 10.
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