\nTim Oglethorpe<\/a> and Nicole Lampert<\/a><\/p>\n
Last updated at 1:10 AM on 9th December 2011<\/p>\n
![\"Dickens](\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/6696article-2071897-0EF9AAEA00000578-959_233x469.jpg\")
<\/p>\nDickens mania: Ray Winstone as Abel Magwitch in Great Expectations<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The BBC is going Charles Dickens crazy before his bicentenary in February. The first of its adaptations are Great Expectations on December 27 and parody The Bleak Old Shop Of Stuff on December 19.\u00a0 Tim Oglethorpe and Nicole Lampert go behind the scenes. <\/span> BBC1 Tuesday, December 27, Wednesday, December 28 and Thursday, December 29\u00a0 at 9pm.<\/span> THE PROGRAMME:<\/span> Three-part adaptation by Sarah Phelps of the novel about the life of orphan Pip. <\/span> THE STARS:<\/span> Douglas Booth \u2014 Boy George in the BBC film Worried About The Boy \u2014 plays orphan Pip, from his teenage years onwards. X Files star Gillian Anderson is Miss Haversham, Ray Winstone plays\u00a0 Magwitch and David Suchet is the secretive lawyer Jaggers.<\/span> THE COST:<\/span> An estimated \u00a33.75\u2009million.<\/span> THE STORY:<\/span> Pip is brought up by his domineering sister Mrs Joe (Claire Rushbrook) and her blacksmith husband Joe Gargery (Shaun Dooley). His kindness towards escaped convict Magwitch will have major consequences. Seeking company for her adopted daughter Estella, Miss Haversham requests Pip visit her fading mansion, Satis. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n It\u2019s Pip\u2019s first taste of a more genteel existence, that he\u2019ll become accustomed to when given a\u00a0 fortune by a mystery benefactor.<\/span> THE FILMING:<\/span> The BBC built the Gargery cottage and forge on marshland near Tollesbury in Essex. Interior scenes, at The Gargery House and at the forge, were shot at Luton Hoo Farm in Bedfordshire. Holdenby House in Northamptonshire doubled as Miss Haversham\u2019s crumbling mansion. The owner James Lowther says: \u2018The BBC used 80 tonnes of mud, weeds and creepers to turn the outside of Holdenby into decaying Satis House.\u2019 <\/span><\/p>\n Different role: X Files star Gillian Anderson is Miss Haversham (pictured at a photography gala in London)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n AUTHENTICITY:<\/span> It\u2019s a serious version. Ray Winstone insisted on performing all his own stunts as Magwitch, which meant him spending hours caked in mud, while filming escape and fight scenes on the Essex marshes. \u2018They weren\u2019t much fun to do,\u2019 he says. \u2018The novelty of having mud in your mouth soon wears off.\u2019 Shaun Dooley\u00a0 attended two courses on blacksmithing to play Joe Gargery. \u2018I learnt how to handle the metal, and made a metal leaf, a poker and a toasting fork,\u2019 he says.<\/span> Gillian Anderson used two wigs and three wedding dresses to portray Miss Havisham, who remains dressed for her big day, despite being cruelly dumped by her fianc\u00e9 many years before. \u2018I also used a bald cap because Miss Haversham has eventually lost so much hair, you can see through to her scalp,\u2019 she says .<\/span> THE SELL:<\/span> \u2018It\u2019s a cracking story with timeless themes, such as envy, jealousy, ambition and the search for happiness,\u2019 says Winstone.<\/span> One-hour Christmas special on BBC2 on December 19 at 8.30pm. There will be three further episodes in January.<\/span> THE PROGRAMME:<\/span> A parody of a mixture of Dickens novels, written by Mark Evans, the man behind Peep Show.<\/span> THE STARS:<\/span> The Peep Show\u2019s Robert Webb stars as Jedrington Secret-Past and the IT Crowd\u2019s Katherine Parkinson is his wife. The Artful Codger: The oldest urchin in town because he never passed his criminal exams<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Stephen Fry is evil lawyer Skulkingworm, Celia Imrie Miss Christmasham, Johnny Vegas the Artful Codger. Jedrington\u2019s uncle and aunts (named after key virtues) are Richard Johnson (Uncle Writes-Prompt-Thank-You-Cards), Una Stubbs (Aunt Good Spelling) and Phyllida Law (Aunt Sobriety). <\/span> THE COST:<\/span> About \u00a31\u2009million.<\/span> THE STORY:<\/span> Nice but dim Jedrington, owner of the The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff, and his family are evicted from their home on Christmas Eve by Malifax Skulkingworm and forced into debtors\u2019 prison The Skint.
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<\/span><\/p>\nGREAT EXPECTATIONS<\/span><\/h2>\n
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<\/span><\/p>\n![\"Different](\"http:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2011\/12\/09\/article-2071897-0F01CD7200000578-934_468x561.jpg\")
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<\/span><\/p>\nTHE BLEAK OLD\u00a0 SHOP OF STUFF<\/span><\/h2>\n
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<\/span><\/p>\n![\"The](\"http:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2011\/12\/09\/article-2071897-0F10485700000578-391_468x351.jpg\")
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