Dickensblog

TCM alert

The 1935 version of David Copperfield airs at 11:30 Eastern this morning. 

Biking with Dickens

BoRo Beach Bike, a company on the Isle of Wight that offers a "collaborative group beach bike experience," is offering biking tours led by a fully costumed Charles Dickens! Click here to learn more about the "What the Dickens?!" ride. 

TCM alert

A Tale of Two Cities (1935) airs this morning at 10:30 a.m. Eastern.

More from the set of 'Copperfield'

The Hull Daily Mail has pictures of the set and a video that gives us a new bit of information: that Hugh Laurie's role is Mr. Dick! (Thanks to Amy for the tip.) HughLaurious on Twitter has two pictures of Laurie in costume. The Daily Mail has pictures of Dev Patel (David) and Peter Capaldi (Mr. Micawber) in costume, along with the actor playing young David, whose name I don't know.

And IMDb has some new character IDs. We now know that Ben Whishaw is playing Uriah Heep, Tilda Swinton is (as I suspected) Aunt Betsey, Rosalind Eleazar is Agnes, and Morfydd Clark is Dora. (That last is especially interesting, as Clark also played Catherine Dickens in The Man Who Invented Christmas.) IMDb is not always the most reliable of sources, but they have it right about the actors and characters that we knew of from other sources, so I'd say it's pretty likely they're right about the rest.

Essaying Dickens

Authors Francine Prose and Richard Russo both have new essay collections out, each of which contains an essay about Dickens. Click here and here for more information about their books; purchase links are here and here. (I haven't yet read the essays myself, but here's hoping they're good ones!)

NPR on Dickens

NPR's Joanne Silberner explains why Dickens's scientific legacy, explored in the Dickens Museum's current exhibition, so impressed her that she decided to give his literary works another chance!

New interview with Lucinda Dickens Hawksley

In this article, Hawksley talks to International Policy Digest about her famous ancestor's work, and her own.

More 'Copperfield' updates

(Folks, please let me know if you're getting tired of these, and I'll cut back! I find it fascinating to follow the development of a film from afar -- especially a Dickens-related film! -- but I realize not everyone feels the same way I do.)

• Residents of King's Lynn are invited to apply for the chance to work as extras in the film on July 19 and 20! Go here to find out how. (For the men, "Dickensian style facial hair" is a plus!)
• Meanwhile, Hull is getting ready to be the next filming location. Go here and here to see filming schedules and more details.
• And here's another writeup with photos and video from Bury St. Edmunds, this one from ITV.

Behind the scenes of 'Copperfield'

Some footage from the filming at Bury St. Edmunds has made its way online! Here's what I've found . . .

BBC News: Writeup with video and photos, including one of Dev Patel in costume as David Copperfield

East Anglian Daily Times: Writeup with video and photos, including a video interview with producer Kevin Loader 

Twitter has more photos, including a few more of Patel, and more video, at #ThePersonalHistoryOfDavidCopperfield hashtag.

'Copperfield' filming news

Residents of Bury St. Edmunds, keep an eye out tomorrow!