- Middlemarch (1994 TV serial)
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Middlemarch Directed by Anthony Page Written by George Eliot (novel)
Andrew DaviesStarring Juliet Aubrey
Rufus SewellDistributed by BBC Release date(s) 1994 Running time 375 min Language English George Eliot's novel Middlemarch (1871) has been adapted for television twice. This version of Middlemarch, was directed by Anthony Page, with a screenplay by Andrew Davies. It starred Juliet Aubrey, Rufus Sewell, Douglas Hodge and Patrick Malahide.
Contents
Plot summary
In this version of George Eliot's novel, Dorothea Brooke (Juliet Aubrey) attempts to satisfy her underdeveloped intellect through marriage to the Reverend Edward Casaubon (Patrick Malahide), a man twice her age. The marriage proves unsatisfying and ends with Casaubon's unexpected death. Dorothea eventually meets Will Ladislaw (Rufus Sewell), an event which leads to further complications.
For a full length summary see: Middlemarch plot summary.
Cast
- Juliet Aubrey as Dorothea Brooke
- Patrick Malahide as Rev. Edward Casaubon
- Rufus Sewell as Will Ladislaw
- Douglas Hodge as Dr Tertius Lydgate
- Robert Hardy as Arthur Brooke
- Caroline Harker as Celia Brooke
- Julian Wadham as Sir James Chettam
- Elizabeth Spriggs as Mrs Cadwallader
- Jonathan Firth as Fred Vincy
- Trevyn McDowell as Rosamund Vincy
- Rachel Power as Mary Garth
- Peter Jeffrey as Bulstrode
Awards
- British Academy Television Awards - Best Actress (Juliet Aubrey), Best Make Up, Best Original Television Music
- Broadcasting Press Guild Awards - Best Actress (Juliet Aubrey)
- Writers' Guild of Great Britain - Best Dramatised Serial
- Television and Radio Industries Club Awards - BBC Programme of the Year
Reactions
In a 28 March 1994 review for The New York Times, Elizabeth Kolbert argued that the mini-series was a hit in Britain as it, "mesmerized millions of viewers here, setting off a mini-craze for Victorian fiction. In its wake there were Middlemarch lectures, Middlemarch comics, even a wave of Middlemarch debates. Authors and columnists argued in the London papers over whether Dorothea would, in fact, live happily ever after, whether Casaubon, if left alone, would have finished his great work and finally whether Will Ladislaw entered his marriage bed a virgin." [1] In an 11 April 1994 review in Time magazine, John Elson also noted this fact, further stating that the series, "was a recent critical and popular success in Britain, leading to lectures and even debates on the novel. As a result of the show, a Penguin paperback of the novel topped best-seller lists for five weeks, and is still doing well. The town of Stamford, Lincolnshire, where exteriors were filmed, is preparing for a summertime influx of tourists." [2]
Notes
External links
- AMG listing - New York Times movie section
- Middlemarch at the Internet Movie Database
Categories:- BBC television dramas
- Television programs based on novels
- 1994 films
- Screenplays by Andrew Davies
- 1994 in British television
- 1990s drama film stubs
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