Bleak House (1959 TV serial)

Bleak House is the first BBC adaptation of Charles Dickens' 1853 novel of the same name.[1] It was adapted by Constance Cox as an eleven-part series of half-hour episodes first transmitted from 16 October 1959.[2] Unlike most television series of the 1950s, the complete serial survived and, in 2017, was released to DVD by Simply Media.[3]

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

Bleak House
GenreSerial drama
Based onBleak House
by Charles Dickens
Written byConstance Cox
StarringDiana Fairfax
Andrew Cruickshank
Colin Jeavons
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes11
Production
ProducerEric Tayler
Running time30 minutes
Production companyBBC
Release
Original release16 October (1959-10-16) –
25 December 1959 (1959-12-25)

Cast

Archive Status

All episodes were originally either broadcast live or recorded on 405 line black and white videotapes, with 35mm film inserts for exterior scenes. Although the original recordings for the studio and location work no longer exist, the series was telerecorded, and 16mm film copies have survived intact. At one point during one of the later episodes, an insect can be seen on the screen, having crawled across it during the recording. As the error was unavoidable, no copy of the episode without an insect on the screen exists.

Critical reception

On the series DVD release, Archive Television Musings wrote "Lacking the visual sweep of the later adaptations, this version of Bleak House has to stand or fall on the quality of its actors. Luckily, there's very little to complain about here. There are some fine central performances – Fairfax, Cruickshank and Jeavons especially – whilst...there's strength in depth from the supporting players with Timothy Bateson standing out. Another strong early BBC Dickens serial, Bleak House comes warmly recommended.[4]

References
  1. "Bleak House Episode 7 (1959)". BFI. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019.
  2. "Bleak House: Episode 1". 16 October 1959. p. 19 – via BBC Genome.
  3. "Bleak House – Charles Dickens (1959) (DVD)". SimplyHE.
  4. "Bleak House (BBC, 1959) – Simply Media DVD Review". 21 August 2017.


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