Acclaimed writer Andrew Davies turns his talents to one of Charles Dickens’ most brilliant novels, arguably the greatest ever depiction of Victorian London — from its splendid heights to its most wretched depths.
Honored with a Peabody award and ten Emmy nominations, Bleak House features some of the most famous plot twists in literary history, including a case of human spontaneous combustion and an infamous inheritance dispute that is tied up for generations in the dysfunctional English courts.
An epic feast of characters and storylines, Bleak House is Dickens’ passionate indictment of the convoluted legal system that is as searingly relevant today as it was in the mid-19th century. The court of Chancery becomes the center of a tangle of relationships at all levels of society and a metaphor for the decay and corruption at the heart of Victorian England.
Shown on PBS Masterpiece Theatre.
Starring Gillian Anderson, Charles Dance, Alun Armstrong, Ian Richardson, Nathaniel Parker, Richard Griffiths, Phil Davis, Joanna David and Carey Mulligan.
Note: Bleak House was filmed on location in Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, and Kent. The exterior of the Dedlock’s country house Chesney Wold, was represented by Cobham Hall in Kent, as was the exterior of Mr Tulkinghorn’s Office. Cobham Hall was also used for some interiors of Chesney Wold such as the hallway and the staircase. The exterior of Bleak House was represented by Ingatestone Hall in Essex. Other houses used for interior shots and garden locations include Balls Park in Hertfordshire, Bromham Hall in Bromham, Bedfordshire, and Luton Hoo in Bedfordshire.