Dickensblog

New U.S. trailer for 'David Copperfield'

It's pretty similar to the original trailer, but has some new material!

 

TCM alert

As part of the channel's 31 Days of Oscar celebration, David Copperfield (1935) will air at 7:45 Eastern this morning, and A Tale of Two Cities (1935) immediately after at 10:15.

Happy 208th birthday, Mr. Dickens!

Just in time for the author's birthday, the Charles Dickens Museum has announced the acquisition of a "treasure trove" of letters and other memorabilia from a large private collection. Among other things, the letters -- like all his letters, "immediate, always passionate, often very funny and gloriously descriptive," according to museum director Cindy Sughrue -- include instructions to his butler about the gin punch, which he made himself and which could be "quite strong."

I hope you'll all raise a glass of gin punch -- or the drink of your choice -- to the birthday boy today!

Burial blues

Leon Litvack of Queen's University Belfast and the Charles Dickens Museum has done some extensive research into the death and burial of Dickens, to find out how he really came to be buried at Westminster Abbey. Spoiler: It's not how we thought!

And the next 'Christmas Carol' will come from . . .

. . . Mark Gatiss (Doctor Who, Sherlock), who is adapting his "favorite story" for the London stage and plans to play Marley. "It’s an astonishingly powerful tale of life, love, loss and redemption and remains supremely relevant," Gatiss told The Guardian. "But at its heart it is a ghost story and that will be at the core of my new version."

TCM alert

Great Expectations (1946) airs this morning at 8:30 a.m., as part of the channel's birthday celebration for Jean Simmons (young Estella).

Dickensian cosplay at 'David Copperfield'

Kudos to the members of the Rochester and Chatham branch of the Dickens Fellowship who turned out for The Personal History of David Copperfield in the height of Victorian fashion!

'David Copperfield' opens Friday in the U.K.

And the reviews are generally looking very good so far! If you're over there and you get to see it, please come tell us all about it in the comments section!

R.I.P. Michael Jesse Bennett

The Utah actor portrayed Dickens in his one-man show, An Evening with Charles Dickens, for 56 years. I don't know if that's a record, but it's impressive! Bennett passed away on December 31 at age 90.

'Oliver Twist' update comes to BBC Radio

Add one more to the list of Oliver updates and remakes! Oliver: Lagos to London, an adaptation by Ayeesha Menon, tells the story of an Oliver-like Nigerian orphan. It starts airing on BBC Radio 4 on Sunday, and will be available globally on BBC Radio iPlayer and the BBC Sounds app.