Great Expectations BBC One 9pm Sunday

[CrossPurposes]

Yet another version begins tonight: https://www.bbc.com/mediacentre/articles/2023/great-expectations-steven-knight

Yeah that's the problem I have with it, Pip is completely unlikable, I have zero sympathy for him and I'm not convinced he loves Estella at all. He is horrible, aggressive, petulant and bitter.

When I read the book Pip was more relatable, he was corrupted a bit by London life but general the reader was rooting for him. Partly I suppose because they knew what a shit childhood he'd had which was not properly explored in this series.

I don't like Estella much either tbh although do feel sympathy for her having to marry that vile man.

Yes, I think you've described it well. He's selfish in the book and we cringe for him but do basically like him and want it to.work out for him. Not so much in this series. It makes me want to watch one of the (many) older adaptations.

I feel like dd needs to watch a more true to the book adaptation, she keeps saying 'does that happen in the book? (Ie when they're chucking a dead body into the Thames and I'm like 'err not that I remember 😳'

It feels like an attempt to shoehorn modern motivations and thriller subplots into a Dickensian world. Estella never had any independent means so could not choose to visit or speak so freely to Joe or Biddy. Nor would she be unchaperoned. The whole point is that she is a puppet for Miss Havisham and lives in a emotional vacuum. Likewise Jaggers may have had some dubious clients but was not of himself so dark a character. Where is the humour to offset the downward spiral of Pip and evils of London life - minimal Herbert Pocket or Wemick?

Yes Pip and Estrella both seem sulky and unpleasant.

Not enjoying this at all, but DH - probably just to be annoying- thinks it's ever so good.

God this is rotten! dH hating it too.

So now they know there is not much left for the last episode!

Very slow episode and very dark - literally and metaphorically. It's watchable but not gripping at all. Pity, because I like the atmosphere created but the story is not that engaging.

I found the last 2 episodes quite boring, and I don't really care about any of the characters. Pip and Estella are not very likeable and I don't really care what happens to them anymore.
I'm disappointed in this because I usually love Victorian dramas and Dickens adaptations.

Yeah I'm disappointed with it, I love any period dramas usually 🫤 will still watch it to the end though!

I have no idea why I am still watching it, it's awful.

I will watch to the end to see how they tie it all up in this version but I've noticed a few of my old favourites on i player so I may rewatch to get my Dickens fix. Old series of Bleak House, Oliver Twist. David Copperfield are all available at the moment.

Thank you I'm going to work my way through these!

I think it might have been better received had they not used the title Great Expectations. It is more a piece of creative fan fiction than an adaptation of the book. Wish we saw more of Mr Wemmick

Well that was ridiculous 😂

Someone actually thinks they can do Dickens better than Dickens, he must be turning in his grave.

It was ridiculous

I actually finished it feeling very annoyed. It couldn't have strayed any further from the book. They may as well have called it something else. Load of rubbish paraded as a great Dickens story.

I dozed off in the middle so missed a chunk of it but woke up in time to see Pip marrying Bridie/Biddy??? instead of Estella, WTF!!

Crap Expectations would be more apt.

This was an absolute piss-take IMO. Changing certain aspects when doing an adaptation is one thing, but I don’t think this writer understood the book, and what it was saying, at all.

Just caught the final episode and I'm not convinced the writer ever read the book. The moral of the revised version seems to be "know your place and stick to your own kind" which is so far from what Dickens was saying.

The book is such a brilliant exploration of the ambivalence of being educated beyond your family/peers, and reminds me of writings about the experience of passing the 11+ and being the only one of your neighbourhood in grammar school in the 50s and 60s.

The adaptation did have some good scenes in it (Miss Havisham and Compeyson's kiss, totally invented but quite powerful) but it wasn't Dickens. And yes, the arrogance of thinking you could do better. I think LIZS hit the nail on the head calling it fan fiction.

I got called out in an A level essay when I mentioned a scene from Macbethh which it turned out was in the film but not the play - imagine the potential misconceptions arising from this one! Definitely on a list of adaptations to avoid if you are a not so serious student of the book.

The most bizarre of endings. Prefer Dickens ambivalence as to whether Pip/Estella have a happy ending or not. Some of the interpretation could have worked, liked Estella being of mixed race, and been interesting but just deviated too far from the original text.

It's a pity about this adaptation as it did have some promise, especially when Pip first went to London and met Jaggers, who was great with his Richard Burton- type accent and threatening manner. I also love a bit of Victorian/ Georgian seediness so enjoyed their London adventures!
Apart from this, it was quite dreary. I think pps hit the nail on the head with the observation that the main characters were unlikeable and the viewer didn't really care about them. I think the major plot changes were a definite mistake too.

God it was awful.

Like being put through a meat grinder - slowly.

Just caught the final episode and I'm not convinced the writer ever read the book. The moral of the revised version seems to be "know your place and stick to your own kind" which is so far from what Dickens was saying

I've never read Great Expectations, which I think has helped me enjoy the series but even I though the ending was odd for a Dickens.

It has made me want to read the book though which can't be a bad thing.