Oliver Twist (BBC) [2007]

See Larger Image	List Price: £19.99 Our Price: £17.38 Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours Manufacturer: 2 Entertain Video Starring: Timothy Spall, Rob Brydon, Gregor Fisher, Edward Fox, Tom Hardy Average Customer Rating:


Audience Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over Binding: DVD EAN: 5014503257224 Format: PAL Label: 2 Entertain Video Manufacturer: 2 Entertain Video Number Of Items: 1 Publisher: 2 Entertain Video Region Code: 2 Release Date: 2008-03-10 Running Time: 176 Studio: 2 Entertain Video Theatrical Release Date: 2007
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Editorial Reviews: 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
Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: Terrible! No where near as good as Alan Bleasdale's version! Comment: This was AWFUL! The acting was horrible, the story didn't really stand right to me and Fagin was just...not convincing. Nancy was worse, her acting was the worst of the lot. It truely was an awful adaption. And Fagin shows real concern for Oliver - Hello?! If you want true class acting then i suggest you buy Alan Bleasdale's version of Oliver Twist. It has a better story, and better actors/actresess. It's the one with Robert Lindsay, who plays Fagin AMAZINGLY!. All in all, this is a shocking adaption and mocks the BBC and Dickens. Customer Rating: Summary: Oh dear! Comment: A version of Oliver Twist made by people who either don't know or don't like the original book. Good production values are negated by poor scripting and bad acting. The writer wrote for Eastenders and it shows as some scenes resemble the worst of that soap. If the BBC are going to keep producing adaptations like this then they should just give up. Customer Rating: Summary: Enjoyable enough, but it's far from Dickens Comment: 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. Customer Rating: Summary: Well I enjoyed it.. Comment: When I saw this advertised I was wondering whether to watch this but I'm glad that I did. I thought 'Monks' was a nasty piece of work. Timothy Spall wasn't exactly my idea of fagin. But overall well played by everyone. Customer Rating: Summary: DON'T LISTEN TO ALL THE POOR REVIEWS Comment: This BBC adaption of Oliver Twist is absolutely brilliant, if there was 6 stars I would go for that! The change of the story just makes it even better, in my opinion it is much better than any of the films and also the book! I absolutely loved it, and as for those people who rated it 1 star, don't listen to them, because most of what they have said is absolute nonscence, 5 star all the way! More Reviews