Episodes
| Episode | Title | First Broadcast | Repeated | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | A Not-overly-particularly-taken-care-of Boy | 20120206 | 20130408 (BBC7) | by Michael Eaton. Five short plays broadcast to mark the bi-centenary of Charles Dickens's birth. The theme of these plays is the Dickens's changing relationship with the city that fired his imagination. Each of the plays tells a unified, 'stand-alone' story, but it also contributes to an over-arching narrative - organised around the sounds of the city and the life story of the man whose footsteps pounded those streets. A-Not-Particularly-Taken-Care-of Boy tells how the young Charles visited London as an eight-year old boy, in the care of his uncle. They become separated by the crowds, but with the help of a young gentleman, the terrors of the unknown city become part of a new world of stories. Based on 'Gone Astray' - written in 1853 about events c.1820; 'The Pantomime of Life' - written in 1837 and 'Meditations In Monmouth Street' - Sketches by Boz. Boy - Hugo Docking Young Gentleman - Samuel Barnett Street Arab - Ryan Watson Uncle - Sam Dale Gog - Jude Akuwudike Lad - Henry Devas Judge / Magog - Sean Baker Mother / Clothes Shop Woman - Joanna Monro Wife - Deeivya Meir Pal - Iain Batchelor Directed by Jeremy Mortimer. Visiting London for the first time, the young Charles goes astray. Stars Hugo Docking. |
| 02 | Boz | 20120207 | 20130409 (BBC7) | by Michael Eaton The strange Young Gentleman is now working for The Morning Chronicle, and has established himself as the swiftest and best-dressed Parliamentary Reporter, earning a decent salary of five guineas a week, taking down shorthand reports of debates in the House. But he has ambitions to write his own stories. Based on 'Thoughts About People' (1835), 'A Dinner at Poplar Walk' from The Monthly Magazine (1833), 'Sketches By Boz' in general and 'A Parliamentary Sketch' (1836). Young Gentleman / Boz - Samuel Barnett Manager / Conductor - Brian Bowles Augustus Minns - Nyasha Hatendi Alexander - Bertie Gilbert Cousin - Jane Whittenshaw Clerk - Iain Batchelor Husband... Stuart Mcloughlin Landlady - Sally Orrock Member / Waiter - Jude Akuwudike Confectioner - Sean Baker Passenger - Alex Tregear Apprentices... Adeel Akhtar, Henry Devas Drunken Woman - Claire Harry Directed by Jeremy Mortimer. Working as a parliamentary reporter, Charles Dickens longs to be a published writer. |
| 03 | The Sparkler Of Albion | 20120208 | 20130410 (BBC7) | by Michael Eaton Has there ever been a more successful writer? Has there ever been a more well-beloved writer? Dickens can go anywhere and do anything. And this evening he is going out for a jaunt with the detective police. Inspector Field who is now the Chief of the Detective Department at Scotland Yard, greets 'The Sparkler of Albion' like an old friend. They have some ground to cover, is he up for it? Of course he is. Largely a dramatisation of 'On Duty With Inspector Field' - written in June 1851 - with some material from 'A December Vision' - written in 1850 and 'Bleak House' - begun in 1852. The Sparkler of Albion - Alex Jennings Inspector Field - Elliot Levey Jo - Ryan Watson Sgt. Williams - Stuart McLoughlin Bark - Sam Dale Constable - Nyasha Hatendi Rogers - Brian Bowles Earl of Warwick - Sean Baker Drunken Woman - Claire Harry With Adeel Akhtar, Iain Batchelor, Henry Devas Directed by Jeremy Mortimer. Dickens spends an evening on a tour of duty in London's East End with Inspector Field. |
| 04 | The Uncommercial Traveller | 20120209 | 20130411 (BBC7) | by Michael Eaton Almost a decade on and Dickens is still night walking. But now it is because he can no longer sleep. His attitude towards the city has transformed: 'London is a vile place, I sincerely believe I see that great heavy canopy lowering over the housetops... the meanness of Regent Street...the abortive ugliness of Trafalgar Square...London is shabby by daylight, shabbier by gaslight.' Based upon his statement: 'Personal'- written in June 1858 - and The Uncommercial Traveller essays: His General Line Of Business; City of London Churches; The City of the Absent; Shy Neighbourhoods; Night Walks and Two views of a Cheap Theatre - written in 1860. The Uncommercial Traveller - Alex Jennings Catherine Dickens..... Jane Whittenshaw Boy - Hugo Docking Steerforth - Stuart McLoughlin Policeman..... Brian Bowles Waitress - Alex Tregear Confectioner - Sean Baker Directed by Jeremy Mortimer. Dickens has achieved success, but he walks the streets at night because he cannot sleep. |
| 05 | The Inimitable | 20120210 | 20130412 (BBC7) | by Michael Eaton Dickens is an old man now, though he's not even sixty. His aching feet draw him irresistibly towards London's East End. All around he sees the same want and ignorance he wrote about all those years ago. Why is he doing all these public readings? He can fool himself that it's because he wants the contact with his readers - no writer before him has ever had such an adoring Public - but is there another reason ? Based on A Small Star in the East and On An Amateur Beat - written in 1869; and the reading of Sikes and Nancy - first given on his reading tour in 1868 and performed finally in 1870, three months before his death. Inimitable - Antony Sher Young Gentleman / Younger Self - Samuel Barnett Mamie / Nurse - Sally Orrock Creature - Ryan Watson Dolby / Cabbie - Brian Bowles Little Girl / Child - Deeivya Meir Though not yet 60, Dickens is an old man now, and performing his readings take its toll. |