Dickensblog

TCM alert

Oliver! airs on the channel at 11:45 p.m. Eastern tonight.

Rehabilitation by Dickens

This story has been all over the Internet: A British would-be terrorist was sentenced to read classic literature, including Dickens (specifically, A Tale of Two Cities). You can read about it here, here, and here. Naturally I'm very intrigued by the idea and eager to hear how it goes! I've always believed that reading literature, including reading Dickens, is good for the soul -- if we get follow-up reports, this should make a valuable case study.

Dickens artifacts at NYPL

Dickens's chair, desk, prompt copy of A Christmas Carol, and paper knife with a handle made from a cat's paw, are going on display at the New York Public Library's new Polonsky Exhibition next month. Go here and here for details!

Elementary, my dear Tiny Tim

A Sherlock Carol, a new play written and directed by Mark Shanahan, will open Off-Broadway in November. Go here and here to learn more about this "Dickens-Doyle mashup"!

The adaptation road less traveled

Screen Rant suggests adapting some of Charles Dickens's short stories for film and/or television. I particularly like the idea of turning some of them into anthology series.

A clip from 'Twist'

Screen Rant has a brief clip from Twist, which opens in theaters and on demand on Friday.

Upcoming Dickens conferences

Next year's Dickens Society Symposium will be hosted by the City University of London, July 8-10. Go here for more information.

Speaking of conferences, the virtual Dickens Universe begins today, with orientation at 1 p.m. Eastern/10 a.m. Pacific. If any of you plan to be there, I look forward to seeing you via Zoom or Slack!

TCM alert

A Tale of Two Cities (1935) airs on the channel at 6 a.m. Eastern tomorrow.

'Oliver Twist' in the news

Today we have a few different Oliver-related items of interest:

• The Daily Mail has some photos from the set of the new "Dodger" series, featuring Christopher Eccleston (Fagin) and Saira Choudhry (Nancy).
• The Guardian has a nice article about the Charles Dickens Museum's new Oliver Twist-themed walking tour.
• Finally, i news has an article about a couple of letters that the Museum is displaying in its new exhibit on Oliver Twist, which opened yesterday. The letters -- one written by Dickens himself, and one by his doctor -- show the toll that Dickens's public readings of the "Sikes and Nancy" episode took on his physical and emotional health.

R.I.P., Teresa Derrington

One of the all-time most popular Dickensblog posts was my 2013 interview with Teresa Derrington Cozens-Hardy, who appeared as Fred's maid in the 1951 adaptation of A Christmas Carol. Though her performance was very brief, generations of viewers have fallen in love with her gentle air and the kind smile with which she encouraged a nervous Scrooge. Many of you commented to tell me how much that performance means to you and how much you enjoyed reading her thoughts about it.

I received a tip the other day from reader Velicia, who saw the news on Facebook, that Teresa had passed away last winter. Family members confirmed that Teresa did indeed pass away on January 28, 2021, at age 89, after having a stroke in her sleep. According to her son Matthew, "she was reasonably active up until the end" and died peacefully. She was buried in Blakeney, Norfolk, after a service at St. Peter's Catholic Church there, attended by her five children and her surviving sibling Bernadette. 

I'll always be grateful that I had the chance to speak with Teresa, who was as kind and gracious in person as her character was onscreen, and to share a bit of her story with you all. My prayers and thoughts are with her family and loved ones. Special thanks to her relative Paul Tollet, who first told us who she was, and her sons Matthew and Tom Hepenstal, who helped arrange the interview. 

One more note: From the Facebook comment by her oldest grandchild, Simon Thomas, that first made us aware of Teresa's passing, I discovered that I had originally spelled her first name wrong (with an "h"). Paul and Matthew both confirmed the correct spelling when I asked them about it last week. I'm not sure how this happened, as I'm usually very careful to spell names right (having had my own spelled wrong many times!), but somehow it did happen. I apologize for my mistake and will go back and correct the spelling on all previous posts about Teresa. I'll see what I can do about correcting it on Wikipedia and IMDb as well.

(Image courtesy VCI Entertainment)