Great Expectations (1999) (TV)

Director:

Julian Jarrold

Writers:

Charles Dickens (novel)
Tony Marchant (writer)

Release Date:

9 May 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Young Pip is expected to become a blacksmith, but, hating the soot and smoke, he secretly dreams of becoming a gentleman...

Plot Keywords:

Blacksmith | Benefactor | Money | Man Haters | Ward

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy. Another 4 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Ioan Gruffudd	...	Pip
Justine Waddell	...	Estella
Charlotte Rampling	...	Miss Havisham
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Laura Aikman	...	Young Biddy
Nicholas Blane	...	Wopsle
Selina Cadell	...	Sarah Pocket
Jo Cameron Brown	...	Miss Skiffins
Emma Cunniffe	...	Biddy
Tony Curran	...	Orlick
Laurence Dobiesz	...	Young Herbert
Leo Dolan	...	Sheriff's Officer
Sarah Durham	...	Maid
Michael Eaves	...	Police Officer
Daniel Evans	...	Herbert Pocket
Gemma Gregory	...	Young Estella
Bernard Hill	...	Abel Magwitch
James Hillier	...	Bentley Drummle
David Horovitch	...	Matthew Pocket
Alex Leppard	...	Gaoler
Hugh Lloyd	...	The Aged P
Roland Manookian	...	Pip's Servant
Ian McDiarmid	...	Jaggers
Ifan Meredith	...	Startop
Laila Morse	...	Molly
Terence Rigby	...	Pumblechook
Clive Russell	...	Joe Gargery
Lesley Sharp	...	Mrs Joe
Angela Sims	...	Estella's Attendant
Philippa Stanton	...	Clara
Reggie Stewart	...	Sergeant
Richard Stirling	...	Presiding Finch
Donald Sumpter	...	Compeyson
Bill Thomas	...	Tailor
Gabriel Thomson	...	Young Pip
Timothy Tranter	...	Young Orlick
Norman Tyrrell	...	Judge
Sandra Voe	...	Camilla Pocket
Nicholas Woodeson	...	Wemmick

Directed by
Julian Jarrold

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Charles Dickens		novel
Tony Marchant		writer

Produced by
Rebecca Eaton	....	executive producer
Melanie Howard	....	associate producer
David Snodin	....	producer
Michael Wearing	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Peter Salem

Cinematography by
David Odd

Film Editing by
Chris Gill

Casting by
Maureen Duff
Gail Stevens

Production Design by
Alice Normington

Art Direction by
Charmian Adams

Set Decoration by
Penny Crawford

Costume Design by
Odile Dicks-Mireaux

Makeup Department
Nicola Matthews	....	makeup artist
Fran Needham	....	makeup designer
Eve Wignall	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Chris Fry	....	third assistant director (as Christopher Fry)
Kayla Miller	....	second assistant director
Amanda Neal	....	first assistant director
Nathalie Wragg	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Bruce Bigg	....	property master
Christine Buttner	....	graphic designer
Grant Montgomery	....	stand-by art director
Mitch Niclas	....	stand-by propman
Dominic Roberts	....	assistant art director
John Thorpe	....	construction manager

Sound Department
Ant Bohun	....	sound editor
Steve Fish	....	boom operator (as Stephen Fish)
Richard Manton	....	sound recordist
Bernard O'Reilly	....	dialogue editor
Santiago Recio	....	sound re-recording mixer

Visual Effects by
Colin Gorry	....	visual effects designer

Camera and Electrical Department
Steve Ellingworth	....	grip
Wayne Mansell	....	generator operator
Vince McGahon	....	Steadicam operator
Barney Piercy	....	clapper loader: second unit
Tony Wilcock	....	gaffer

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Andrew Hunt	....	wardrobe
Sharon Long	....	costume assistant
Kay Manasseh	....	assistant costume designer
Vanessa Munro	....	costume assistant
Marion Weise	....	assistant costume designer

Editorial Department
Kevin Horsewood	....	colorist

Other crew
Charlotte Blair	....	script supervisor
Jason Bulley	....	underwater cameraman
Cody Dorkin	....	adr voice
Lynn Grant	....	location manager
Howard Kingston	....	production executive
Anna Lewis	....	production secretary
Emma Pill	....	location manager
Cindy Thomson	....	location manager: scotland
Hannah Vincent	....	script editor
Samantha Vince	....	production coordinator
Eve Wheeler	....	assistant production accountant

Production Companies

• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
• WGBH

Distributors

• Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)

Runtime:

Canada:168 min (Ontario)

Country:

UK

Language:

English | Greek

Colour:

Colour

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Quotes:

Pip: It seems that these past few years I have been harbouring an illusion. More than one, in fact... And you humoured them. You led me on...
Miss Havisham: Yes, I let you go on.
Pip: Was that kind?
Miss Havisham: Who am I, for God's sake, that I should be kind?

Movie Connections:

Version of The Boy and the Convict. (1909)

Stunning

This absorbing adaptation is a pleasure to watch. Inevitably some of the nuances of the novel, such as the turning of Pip from his roots, are made abrupt in this three hour adaptation. The acting is superb and not overly mannered. Ian McDiarmid makes a complex Jaggers, and Charlotte Rampling is ravishing and vulnerable as Miss Havisham. There are fine performances from familiar actors as Joe and as Abel as well. Ioan Gruffudd is a stunning Pip. An ideal romantic hero, as we have already seen in the Hornblower series, he is physically stunning and manages to act as well. (For my liking a bit more smoldering wouldn't go amiss.) I enjoyed his reading of Latin to Abel with a Welsh accent!