Bleak House DVD to be available in the USA on February 28
Posted at 6:15 AM (PST) on Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Bleak House - Gillian Anderson's New Show Planned For Quick DVD Release

By David Lambert
TV Shows on DVD
11/16/2005

Gillian Anderson will forever be remembered as "Agent Dana Scully" in 1993's long-running series The X-Files, but these days she stars in a very different type of series. She's been living in the U.K. since 2002 (she also spent about nine years of her childhood there, starting at age 2), and so it's no surprise that her current show airs on BBC-1.

She plays "Lady Honoria Dedlock" in the new program Bleak House, based on the classic Charles Dickens novel of the same name. Other stars include Denis Lawson ("Wedge Antilles" of Star Wars fame), Anna Maxwell Martin, Patrick Kennedy, Carey Mulligan, Charles Dance and Inspector Lynley Mysteries star Nathaniel Parker.

So far, six episodes of the new Bleak House have aired on BBC-1, out of a planned 15-part adaption of Dickens' story about injustice in the British legal system. That may sound a bit like a downer, but there is a lot to this story and it will certainly draw you in.

Many people (critics, viewers) are calling this adaption "magnificent" and other superlatives; at this point the series is clearly a winner and well worth a look. Because of that, BBC Video in North America plans to bring this to DVD quickly: they are scheduling a 3-DVD set ($39.98 Suggested Retail Price) for release on February 28th. That date is timed to coincide with the end of a 6-week run of the show as broadcast on PBS affiliate WGBH.

Here is how BBC and distributor Warner Home Video describe this:

BBC reinvigorates the costume drama in this new production of one of Dickens' greatest masterpieces. Starring Gillian Anderson ("The X-Files") and re-imagined by Andrew Davies (Pride & Prejudice), it is sure to become an instant classic.

An all-star cast comes together to bring to life some of Dickens' most famous creations. There is the icily beautiful Lady Dedlock (Gillian Anderson), who faces the revelation of her dark past once Mr. Tulkinghorn (Charles Dance), her husband's sinister lawyer, catches wind of it. Then there's Esther, whose own background, shrouded in mystery, begins to come to light after the murder of a strange man. Adopted by the kindly John Jarndyce, Esther acts as chaperone to wards Ada and Richard. But will the passionate young love of Ada and Richard survive Richard's obsession with Jarndyce v. Jarndyce, a legal case which seems to have no resolution in sight and threatens to destroy all who become entangled in it?

Stay tuned and we will bring you cover art, plus any further word about this release that BBC or Warner may supply, just as soon as we can.