Nicholas
Nickleby (1979 British TV/BBC and Time-Life)
Picture: C
Sound: C+ Extras: D Program: B
Each time we look at an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Nicholas Nickleby, the versions get
older. His time, we look at another
solid version from 1979 by the BBC and Time-Life. Running 5.5 hours, this is also the third British mini-series
version in a row we are looking at and it is certainly the equal of the other
later productions. The title role is
about a young man who will only tolerate so much misery and outrage form the
people and world around him before he responds quickly to defend himself and
those who cannot.
Unlike the 1982 version, this one is not so obviously on
the stage, which I really enjoyed.
Nigel Havers is very good in the title role, with Christopher Berry
directing with great authenticity and efficiency. As a mater of fact, this was the kind of production I thought
A&E might have issued, so this was finally the kind of production I wanted
to see after so much talk of the success of the stage versions. The rest of the cast of is fine and of the
three versions, I would start with this one, adding that the Acorn version has
its share of naturalistic wide shots to take advantage of the newer video
technology. This is just more
characteristically British of them all.
It won’t be long before we see a fourth version, I bet.
The 1.33 X 1 image is a bit softer than a PAL transfer to
DVD should be for its age, but it is not too bad. As are the sets of Old
Curiosity Shop and David Copperfield
(reviewed elsewhere on this site) from the same producers, this production
offers the typically British interiors on PAL analog video and the outdoor
shots seemingly filmed, yet this one looks a little better. The show is on 2 DVDs here in 6 parts. The Dolby Digital 2.0 is a still rather
weak Mono, but is passable and a tad better than the other sets. There are no extras, nor is that quite as
clear as even the 1982 version, but it has character and holds up nicely.
- Nicholas Sheffo
