Dickens Stretches Out
Like the cinema before it, early British TV turned to literature when it needed respectability: 19th century literature
particularly, and Dickens above all. As a pioneer of the serial form, Dickens was custom made for TV,
where his sprawling plots could unfold over many weeks. TV, in return, allowed space for the novels' ambitious
reach as the more compact feature film never could.
The BBC mounted its first ever televisation of Dickens in 1938, while the fledgling ITV screened
five Dickens works in its first 18 months, and Nicholas Nickleby was a highlight of Channel 4's first
week. Our collection picks some of the best small-screen adaptations, while a new short film tour (see below) looks at
over a century of adaptations.
Dickens on Television
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