Bleak House (1985 TV serial)

This article is about the 1985 adaptation. For the 1959 adaptation, see Bleak House (1959 TV serial). For the 2005 adaptation, see Bleak House (2005 TV serial).

Bleak House is a BBC television drama first broadcast in 1985. The serial was adapted by Arthur Hopcraft from the Charles Dickens novel Bleak House (1853).^[1]

Bleak House
DVD cover
Genre	Period drama
Starring	Diana Rigg Denholm Elliott Peter Vaughan T. P. McKenna Philip Franks Suzanne Burden
Composer	Geoffrey Burgon
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	8
Production
Cinematography	Kenneth MacMillan
Running time	52 minutes
Production company	BBC Television
Original release
Network	BBC2
Release	10 April (1985-04-10) – 29 May 1985 (1985-05-29)
Related
Bleak House (1959) Bleak House (2005)

The series was the second adaptation of Bleak House by the BBC (the first being in 1959).^[2] It ran for eight episodes and starred Diana Rigg as Lady Dedlock, with Denholm Elliott in the role of John Jarndyce.^[3]

In the United States, the series ran under the Masterpiece Theatre series umbrella.^[4]

A notable plot omission in this version is the story of Caddy Jellyby and the Turveydrop family.

As opposed to the standard of videotape for studio-based scenes and film for location-based scenes, the series was shot entirely on 16mm colour film.

Cast

• Robin Bailey – Sir Leicester Dedlock
• Suzanne Burden – Esther Summerson
• Denholm Elliott – John Jarndyce
• Philip Franks – Richard Carstone
• Lucy Hornak – Ada Clare
• T. P. McKenna – Harold Skimpole
• Chris Pitt – Jo
• Diana Rigg – Lady Dedlock
• Sylvia Coleridge – Miss Flite
• Graham Crowden – Lord Chancellor
• Peter Vaughan – Tulkinghorn
• Bernard Hepton – Krook
• Jonathan Moore – William Guppy
• Frank Windsor – Gridley
• Brian Deacon – Allan Woodcourt
• Robert Urquhart – Laurence Boythorn
• Sam Kelly – Mr. Snagsby
• Dave King – Sergeant George
• Pamela Merrick – Hortense
• Ian Hogg – Inspector Bucket
• Charlie Drake – Smallweed
• Eileen Davies – Judy Smallweed^[5]
• Donald Sumpter – 'Nemo'
• Gabrielle Daye – Mrs. Rouncewell
• Harry Jones – Phil Squod
• Colin Jeavons – Vholes
• Cathy Murphy – Housemaid
• Arthur Hewlett – Waggoner
• Anne Reid – Mrs. Bagnet
• Anthony Roye – Kenge
• George Sewell – Ironmaster Rouncewell
• Guy Standeven – Bagnet
• Stella Tanner – Mrs. Chadband
• Malcolm Terris – Reverend Chadband
• Paul Venables – Wat Rouncewell
• John Oliver – Felix Pardiggle
• Bob Goody - Barrister
• Cyril Appleton - Second Barrister

See also

• Bleak House
• Bleak House (1959 TV serial)
• Bleak House (2005 TV serial)

References

1. "Bleak House Episode 1 (1985)". BFI. Archived from the original on 2 February 2018.
2. "Bleak House: Episode 1". 16 October 1959. p. 19 – via BBC Genome.
3. "Bleak House (1985) - Ross Devenish | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related" – via AllMovie.
4. "PBS's painterly 'Bleak House'". The Christian Science Monitor. 27 November 1985.
5. "Bleak House Contributors". BBC Radio Times. 1985.

External links

• Bleak House (1985) at IMDb