Dickens on Masterpiece Theatre

Douglas Booth as Pip in Great Expectations (2011)

Masterpiece Theatre is celebrating the bicentennial of Charles Dickens' birth by airing two new adaptations of his works and re-airing others.

Take a look at these delightful offerings for Dickens and period drama fans:

Watch Little Dorrit - Preview on PBS. See more from Masterpiece.

Little Dorrit (2008) is currently available for viewing online at the Masterpiece Theatre website (in five episode parts) from now until April 2nd. If you haven't yet been able to watch this wonderful miniseries I highly recommend you check it out. You can watch a preview above and read my review of the series here.

They also are offering special online features such as Cast and Crew Interviews, Behind-the-scene videos, slideshow of the characters narrated by screenplay writer Andrew Davies and Dickens scholar Tatiana Holway's view on Little Dorrit.

Watch Great Expectations Preview on PBS. See more from Masterpiece.

Great Expectations (2011) - The new BBC adaptation will being this coming Sunday! It will be aired in two episodes the first part on April 1st and the second on April 8th. The first part will be available for online viewing April 2nd at the Masterpiece Website. According to the website the first episode will be 60 minutes long and the second episode will be 120 minutes long - this info give me great hope that they won't be cutting out any of the original scenes! The adaptation will be available on DVD on April 3rd.

I'm not a great fan of the trailer above (it's clips with a pop song played in over top) but I found two lovely clips of scenes and several interview with the actors at my local PBS website which I am linking to below.

A Scene from Episode One
A Scene from Episode Two
Actress Gillian Anderson on portraying Miss Havisham
Actor Douglas Booth on Gillian Anderson's portrayal
Actor Douglas Boorth on Becoming an Actor
Actress Vanessa Kirby on her Inner Estella
Actor Douglas Booth on What to Expect from this adaptation
Various Actors on Why Dickens is Still Relevant

Read my review of Great Expectations (2011) for details of the adaptation. I'm quite excited to see it again!

Watch The Mystery of Edwin Drood Preview on PBS. See more from Masterpiece.

The Mystery of Edwin Drood (2012) - I was SO excited to find the first preview for this new adaptation is now up on the Masterpiece Theatre website! Edwin Drood (2012) will air April 15th on Masterpiece Classic and be available for limited time watching online at their website the next day.

I can not wait to watch and review! I'm only sorry I couldn't review it sooner for those interested in it. This is a murder mystery tale so it might not be great for younger children. You can read my post about the story synopsis and various adaptations here. 

Take a look at this lovely photo of Edwin & Rosa!

Which of these Dickens adaptations are you most looking forward to?