I'm rather surprised by some of the negative reviews here. This was a sumptuous production, extremely well cast and judiciously edited from the book. It went out at peak viewing time over the holiday period and drew in large numbers of viewers primarily because it targeted its audience extremely well. Yes it cuts characters from the book, Biddy for example, but with limited time and for the sake of streamlining the story these are characters only missed if you knew of their existence in the first place. For those new to Dickens and there will many, as every generation arrives at classic literature from it's own direction, it is a great introduction to the novel, which I encourage anyone to pick up and read.
Standout performances are definitely Ray Winstone and Gillian Anderson, both obviously enjoying their roles enormously and inhabiting their characters perfectly. Any misgivings people have to the casting of the 43 year old Anderson as Miss Havisham should be put to one side. She is often presented as far too old a character in previous versions, so to complain that seven or eight years have been knocked off seems kind of redundant. I enjoyed Douglas Booth as Pip, and he managed to make him initially unlikeable and naive, yet eventually more sympathetic, despite being so 'pretty'! Hat's off to Paul Ritter as Wemmick and Harry Lloyd as Herbert Pocket too, both perfect!
Standout performances are definitely Ray Winstone and Gillian Anderson, both obviously enjoying their roles enormously and inhabiting their characters perfectly. Any misgivings people have to the casting of the 43 year old Anderson as Miss Havisham should be put to one side. She is often presented as far too old a character in previous versions, so to complain that seven or eight years have been knocked off seems kind of redundant. I enjoyed Douglas Booth as Pip, and he managed to make him initially unlikeable and naive, yet eventually more sympathetic, despite being so 'pretty'! Hat's off to Paul Ritter as Wemmick and Harry Lloyd as Herbert Pocket too, both perfect!