Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION The Anywhere Machine Gillian Anderson fans rejoice

She is starring in the latest Masterpiece Theatre presentation, playing Lady Dedlock in a six-part adaptation of Charles Dickens' "Bleak House."

Check your local PBS listings. My PBS station is giving part one tonight at nine.

Have seen this on the BBC and it is a great series. A very modern take in that we get a lot of sharp camera changes and it is pretty "mannered" but I loved it.

The series is full of great British actors. Some like Johnny Vegas are better known as comedians but play a great part.

I totally agree, Faraway Lad. It's not our parents or grandparents style of Dickens, but I think it's great.

And as long as there are no anachronisms in the actual dialogue, I'm in favor of modern takes on classic literature, if it helps to make at least a few younger viewers more interested in classic literature.

Gillian Anderson gives a wonderful performance. I'm so glad that, rather than taking the predictable TV star route, she moved to England (where she had spent a large part of her childhood) and reinvented herself as a respected stage actress.

The entire cast is outstanding. The only one with whom I was already familiar, other than Gillian Anderson, is Charles Dance (Mr. Tulkinghorn), but the performances have moved me to start finding out more about the entire cast.

Watched this last night and could not take my eyes off it. An amazing production. Unlike all the Dickens productions of my childhood, these characters are played more naturalistically, without the over-the-top campy caricature that they are so susceptible to. I almost fainted out of my chair when I realized this was Gillian Anderson from X-Files. What a performance.

And, luckily for us viewers, the actors and directors don't confuse "naturalistic" with "colorless", as is sometimes the case.

I dream of one day visiting England and going to see Gillian Anderson in a theater production. Even though Dana Scully was my heroine back in the days when X-Files was at its peak, I sensed, even then, that there was so much more to Gillian Anderson than just that one character. Plus, I can relate to her real-life experience of being born in America, but growing up outside America, and then her family moving back to America during her adolescence, probably the worst time in life to go through culture shock. It's so great that she's risen above that painful experience, it gives me hope that I will too.

i didn't get the chance to watch all of this, but GILLIAN ANDERSON was amazing in it, form that parts that i did see, hopefully they'll repeat it again, soon .......

Matthew.

It didn't air here! It was advertised as coming on at nine, but at the last minute they announced that's it's coming in February. To make matters worse the TV Guide no longer lists the local PBS, just the Boston station, which I don't get. :pout:

Arachne.

I hope you get to see it A, All of the characters not just Lady D are spot on. I love Tulkinghorn and his assisitant.

Sorry to hear that, Arachne.

My PBS station does things like that sometimes, too. It's so annoying, especially since they're supposed to be an alternative to the unreliable scheduling of the networks.

Thanks guys. I take comfort in that fact that my copy of Lost S1 should be here by the end of the week.

Omg, that's wonderful news. There's some seriously good viewing in those Lost S1 episodes.

I ordered it Monday, they said it would come Thursday, I figured it would come Friday, but it showed up today. I may not be around much for a little while.

I know the feeling. When I first got into Alias a little over a year ago, I spent all my free time catching up on the three seasons I missed, through Blockbuster rentals.

We'll miss you, Arachne, but at least we'll know you're having fun.

I tuned into BLEAK HOUSE more out of curiosity than anything, and man, I was impressed. It was totally engrossing and entertaining. I'm ready for more!

It's just getting better and better. Can't wait for next Sunday night.

The Bleak House mini-series ended last night. It is truly exceptional. I think it should be shown to Literature classes at schools all over the world, for years to come.

Back to Gillian Anderson: watching this mini-series reminded me that I never got around to seeing the film adaptation of Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth, which she starred in. Anyone here seen it? What are your thoughts on it? Is it worth renting from Blockbuster, in your opinions?

My local PBS affiliate cut off the last 15 minutes of the final Bleak House installment with a pledge dirive!!

I've been watching this from the beginning and loved it but was furious that they could make such a mistake!

What happened at the end? Was it Lady Deadlock who killed Tulkinghorn? Did Esther marry Mr Jardyce(sp?)? I know I could read the book, but I've never been able to read Dickens.

Oh, dear. I was half-asleep towards the end because I didn't expect the final episode to be extra-long, but I'll see what I can remember...

Lady Dedlock did not kill Tulkinghorn. Hortense did, and tried to frame Lady Dedlock, but thanks to Inspector Bucket's flawless detective work, justice prevailed and Hortense was arrested.

Here's where it gets vague for me...IIRC, Lady Dedlock could not live with her past infidelities and took her own life; her husband died from the shock; and Esther did marry Mr. Jarndyce.

Interesting, not what I expected
to have happened.

Thanks, Stealth.

You're welcome. Good thing I remembered just enough to help.

I must admit that I, too, find Dickens hard to get through. Fortunately, his books lend themselves so well to film and TV and stage adaptations.