Bleak House
BBC Home Video (1985)
Crime, Drama
In Collection
#1753
0*
Seen ItYes
5036193090714
IMDB   6.9
6 hr 40 mins USA / English
DVD  Region 1   PG
Denholm Elliott John Jarndyce
Diana Rigg Lady Honoria Dedlock
Philip Franks Richard Carstone
T.P. McKenna Harold Skimpole
Brian Deacon Allan Woodcourt
Robert Urquhart Laurence Boythorn
Cyril Appleton Barrister
Robin Bailey Sir Leicester Dedlock
Suzanne Burden Esther Summerson
Kathy Burke Guster
Jonathan Moore William Guppy
Chris Pitt Jo
Lucy Hornak Ada Clare
Sylvia Coleridge Miss Flite
Bernard Hepton Krook
Sam Kelly Snagsby
Pamela Merrick Hortense
Peter Vaughan Tulkinghorn
Director
Ross Devenish
Producer Betty Willingale
John Harris
Nigel Stafford-Clark
Writer Charles Dickens
Arthur Hopcraft
Andrew Davies
Cinematography Kenneth MacMillan
Musician Geoffrey Burgon

This stunning BBC production, starring Diana Rigg and Denholm Elliott, brings to life one of Dickens's finest works, an unflinching look at the absurdity of the legal profession, whose sole purpose seems to be lining the pockets of lawyers.

At the court of Chancery, the Jarndyce and Jarndyce case grinds on for years with no end in sight. Entangled in the lawsuit are a growing number of innocent victims: Ada Clare and Richard Carstone, whose inheritance is gradually being devoured by legal costs.; Esther Summerson, a child with a mysterious parentage; and even Jo, the destitute little crossing-sweeper. As the case staggers onward, yet more people become embroiled in the furious legal battle, including the proud Lady Dedlock, who finds herself persecuted by the menacing lawyer Tulkinghorn, then hunted by the determined Inspector Bucket, one of the first detective to appear in English literature. A savage, but often comic, indictment of a society that is rotten to the core, Bleak House is one of Dickens's most ambitious novels.
Episodes
    Seen it: Yes   7 hr 0 mins    4/10/1985  1.  Episode 1
Young Esther Summerson, brought up as an orphan, is summoned to London by her guardian's solicitors. She is to meet the Wards of Court in Jarndyce and Jarndyce court case over a will, and become acquainted with her guardian John Jarndyce for the first time.
Director:  Ross Devenish  Writer:  Arthur Hopcraft  / Charles Dickens (novel) 
    Seen it: Yes   7 hr 0 mins    4/17/1985  2.  Episode 2
Esther is entrusted with the running of Bleak House.
Director:  Ross Devenish  Writer:  Arthur Hopcraft  / Charles Dickens (novel) 
    Seen it: Yes   7 hr 0 mins    4/24/1985  3.  Episode 3
Lady Dedlock ceases the case, Esther refuses an offer of marriage and Miss Flite collapses after a court hearing.
Director:  Ross Devenish  Writer:  Arthur Hopcraft  / Charles Dickens (novel) 
    Seen it: Yes   0 hr 55 mins    5/1/1985  4.  Episode 4
Lady Dedlock persuades Jo, a young crossing sweeper, to show her the haunts of the late Captain Hawdon. Richard's intended engagement to Ada perturbs Jarndyce, who considers it hasty, and they argue.
Director:  Ross Devenish  Writer:  Arthur Hopcraft  / Charles Dickens (novel) 
    Seen it: Yes   0 hr 55 mins    5/8/1985  5.  Episode 5
Smallweed presses George for documents in Captain Hawdon's handwriting, while Jo is questioned about the 'Lady' Tulkinghorn showed around London.
Director:  Ross Devenish  Writer:  Arthur Hopcraft  / Charles Dickens (novel) 
    Seen it: Yes   0 hr 55 mins    5/15/1985  6.  Episode 6
Esther becomes ill with smallpox, while Smallweed inherits Krook's property.
Director:  Ross Devenish  Writer:  Arthur Hopcraft  / Charles Dickens (novel) 
    Seen it: Yes   0 hr 55 mins    5/22/1985  7.  Episode 7
Esther, severely scarred, has recovered from smallpox. She meets Lady Dedlock, who confesses that she is her mother. Jo has been found desperately ill and living rough, but dies soon afterwards. The lawyer Tulkinghorn, has been murdered in his rooms.
Director:  Ross Devenish  Writer:  Arthur Hopcraft  / Charles Dickens (novel) 
    Seen it: Yes   0 hr 55 mins    5/29/1985  8.  Episode 8
Richard, now married to Ada, continues the legal cause of Jarndyce.
Director:  Ross Devenish  Writer:  Arthur Hopcraft  / Charles Dickens (novel) 
Edition Details
Series Bleak House
Release Date 9/4/2006
Packaging Keep Case
Screen Ratio Fullscreen (4:3)
Subtitles English
No. of Disks/Tapes 4