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From Amazon.co.uk
Another costume drama, another classic literary adaptation, and another stellar cast. You can’t help thinking that it all becomes a matter of routine for commissioning editors at the BBC. But panic not: Oliver Twist is, yet again, a strong piece of work, and well worth adding to the corporation’s impressive collection.
Based, as you’d expect, on the Dickens text, and adapted with real skill by Sarah Phelps, Oliver Twist is a strong three hours of drama. The script isn’t ideal for the Dickens purist, as Phelps has brought some new ideas to her work, but it’s hard to quibble with the quality of the drama that results.
Oliver Twist’s outstanding cast is led by Timothy Spall, and also brings together Tom Hardy, Sophie Okenedo, Edward Fox, Sarah Lancashire and Gregor Fisher among others. They inherit and inhabit Dickens’ varied collection of characters with exceptional skill, and they help to vividly bring the tale of the artful dodger to the small screen.
It should be noted that Oliver Twist isn’t a perfect production, with the deviations from the source material presenting a couple of talking points. But it conforms ably to the high standards we’ve come to expect from BBC costume productions, and while it’s not their finest work, it’s a very good piece of television drama that’s well worth investing your time in. --Jon Foster
Product Description
"A who’s who of acting talent captures perfectly Dicken’s army of exaggerated grotesques..." --The Times
Starring: Timothy Spall, William Miller, Adam Arnold, Tom Hardy, Sophie Okenedo, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Edward Fox, Anna Massey, Morven Christie, Sarah Lancashire, Gregor Fisher, Rob Brydon, John Sessions.
This gripping take on Charles Dickens’ classic remains faithful to the spirit of the novel while delivering a modern, thrilling, tragic and occasionally comic edge. Sarah Phelps (EastEnders), one of Britain's most dynamic television writers, has adapted this powerful story,
Oliver is born into poverty and misfortune – the son of an unmarried mother, who dies shortly after his birth; he is soon delivered to the workhouse. There, the cruel Mr Bumble oversees children tormented by starvation and suffering. When Oliver dares ask for more gruel, he finds himself cast out and forced to make his own way in the world.
Running away to London, Oliver meets the Artful Dodger and his gang, as well as the beautiful Nancy and gets the first warm welcome of his life – but he is soon to discover that this kindness requires its own type of payment.
As Oliver is drawn deeper into the dark and murky underworld, he remains unaware that the kind Mr Brownlow is searching for him, while others – the brutal criminal Bill Sikes, the manipulative Fagin and the mysterious Mr Monks – are vying to ruin and destroy his life…
Special Feature:
Behind-the-Scenes
A New Twist on Oliver Twist
Adapted by: Sarah Phelps.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
By K. Edwards
Format:DVD
It always makes my heart sink when I watch the "behind the scenes" documentaries of TV adaptations of books, and the focus is on how they've changed things, tried to make it "relevant to the modern age" and, by implication, improved upon the original. This is an enjoyable story, but it isn't "Oliver Twist." Now, I'm not a purist. I've just finished acting in a local version of the musical, Oliver! which also strays far from Dickens' original. But this one just isn't quite right. The characters keep the same names, but are not the same people. My particular gripe is with the way the Artful Dodger is portrayed. Dodger is a boy who thinks he's a man, cynical, arrogant and a joy to read about or watch. Yet here, he is yet another sulky, stroppy teenager. Oliver, on the other hand, the writers have decided to make less wimpy than he usually comes across. No harm in that - yet is there no other way than to have him answering back the whole time? The story itself is fine, for there at least the writers have kept close to the original. But at times the characters are barely recognisable.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I'm a bit late with these comments because I've only just seen this version of "Oliver Twist" on TV. I will not be buying the DVD even though Amazon have already reduced the price by 75%, which seems to reflect a need to clear the stock.
I found the changes from the original story to be somewhat problematic.
Fagin and the boys keep calling Oliver "Nolly". This is grating. Dickens used that nickname only three or four times in the novel.
Rose sings "Abide with me". The novel was finally published in 1839. The music for the poem, making it a hymn, wasn't published until 1861.
The dialogue is an uncomfortable mix of mid-19th century street talk and early 21st century slang.
Nancy is described by Dickens as "stout and hearty", not as of mixed race and skinny.
Timothy Spall, as others have commented, turns Fagin into a less-than-believable caricature but he does use the right accent and turns of phrase to suit his character. His costume is extraordinary, but perhaps it would be deemed anti-Semitic to portray him in the same way as he is drawn by Cruikshank in the original novel.
Edward Fox was, for me, the greatest disappointment in a rather two-dimensional portrayal of Mr Brownlow.
William Miller, a photogenic boy with a face to tug the heart-strings, had been coached to play a more resilient Oliver but he seemed to finish up without much feeling at all.
The background music is jarring and distracting.
Some of the sets seem to have been borrowed from an earlier film version of the story.
On the other hand, I have no disrespect for people who enjoyed it. The photography and lighting are very good. The essence of the story is still there. It's good entertainment. So I'm not arguing -- just pointing out that it's less than perfect.
I found the changes from the original story to be somewhat problematic.
Fagin and the boys keep calling Oliver "Nolly". This is grating. Dickens used that nickname only three or four times in the novel.
Rose sings "Abide with me". The novel was finally published in 1839. The music for the poem, making it a hymn, wasn't published until 1861.
The dialogue is an uncomfortable mix of mid-19th century street talk and early 21st century slang.
Nancy is described by Dickens as "stout and hearty", not as of mixed race and skinny.
Timothy Spall, as others have commented, turns Fagin into a less-than-believable caricature but he does use the right accent and turns of phrase to suit his character. His costume is extraordinary, but perhaps it would be deemed anti-Semitic to portray him in the same way as he is drawn by Cruikshank in the original novel.
Edward Fox was, for me, the greatest disappointment in a rather two-dimensional portrayal of Mr Brownlow.
William Miller, a photogenic boy with a face to tug the heart-strings, had been coached to play a more resilient Oliver but he seemed to finish up without much feeling at all.
The background music is jarring and distracting.
Some of the sets seem to have been borrowed from an earlier film version of the story.
On the other hand, I have no disrespect for people who enjoyed it. The photography and lighting are very good. The essence of the story is still there. It's good entertainment. So I'm not arguing -- just pointing out that it's less than perfect.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
As a piece of entertainment, this is in fact not at all bad; it is pacy, well-filmed and generally well-acted. There is much to enjoy. If, however, you have ever read the book or, indeed, if you have ever seen the David Lean film version, you will come away feeling decidedly short-changed and even a little bit angry, especially after watching the accompanying documentary, in which the adapter and the director seem to suggest that they can improve on Dickens; for Heaven's sake, why does it have to be relevant to today? Surely Dickens's appeal is that it is, well, Dickensian? The liberties taken with the plot are grievous enough (even though the rewriting of the Monks sub-story is effective enough in a soap opera kind of way), but it is the way in which Dickens's wonderful grotesques and eccentrics have been presented which niggles the most; even brilliant character actors like Timothy Spall and Gregor Fisher are prevented from bringing their parts to glorious life by an adapter and director who think that they know better than Dickens and the actors have, of course, their moments, they compare unfavourably to portrayers of the roles in previous versions. Mr Spall is even physically wrong for Fagin (too young, too corpulent); he would have made a fine Beadle; I suspect that the director considered this to be casting "outside of the box", but it does not quite come off. On the plus side, the young actor playing Oliver is for once not the simpering wimp of so many versions and Edward Fox offers a much more multi-layered Mr Brownlow than we have come to expect. The most striking performances, however, come from Tom Hardy as a psychotic Bill Sykes and Sophie Okenedo as a black Nancy; played by younger actors than usual, this really works and one can sense that there is a strange but very real kind of love at the heart of this abusive relationship. Mr Hardy is brilliant throughout; a pity, therefore, that his death scene is so badly botched and unnecessarily rewritten. As I say, this isn't bad, but if you want just one "Oliver Twist" for your collection, then I would go for the David Lean film instead.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must see
This was a brilliant series, really enjoyed it... In fact, I liked it so much, I've watched it twice :D
I would highly recommend :)
I would highly recommend :)
Published 28 days ago by Carrie
5.0 out of 5 stars
SEE THIS
For any Oliver fans, this is definatly one for the collection. The quality is mind blowing. 5 out of 5.
Published 1 month ago by Rob
5.0 out of 5 stars
DVD
Very good version with a good cast.
I think it is very silly that a review of this type of product requires you to use a minimum number of words.
I think it is very silly that a review of this type of product requires you to use a minimum number of words.
Published 3 months ago by John
5.0 out of 5 stars
Oliver Twist
A great back up for my work on Victorians with my pupils in primary. Good social piece of history.Great team of actors
Published 3 months ago by Martin Hilton
5.0 out of 5 stars
Loved every minute!
I watched this when it was on BBC a few years back and, to this day still, love every single second of it. I love the adaptions made. Read more
Published 4 months ago by ChloeP1
4.0 out of 5 stars
good Christmas viewing
Interesting to see this new interpretation of an old favourite. I saw part of this on television a couple years ago and wasn't sure it was worth viewing. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Marilyn
1.0 out of 5 stars
Please Sir, I don't want any more
Really terrible. Dickens' plot is altered massively, cutting out swathes of characters and storyline without any particular benefit. Read more
Published 10 months ago by James F. Graham
4.0 out of 5 stars
oliver twist
I bought this despite the fact that some of the reviews i read did not think much of it.
Forget all the other versions you have seen, this is a new version that is very... Read more
Forget all the other versions you have seen, this is a new version that is very... Read more
Published 15 months ago by samgamgee
1.0 out of 5 stars
Fit for Eastenders only
A travesty of Dickens, but only to be expected from a woman who writes for programmes like Eastenders. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Philip F. Purser
3.0 out of 5 stars
does NOT match the Book
I enjoyed watching the film, being the first I fully watch to Oliver Twist. After I started reading of the original text of the novel by Dickens for study and research purposes, I... Read more
Published 22 months ago by Muhammad
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