Bleak House: BBC One Press Pack Phase One
Posted at 12:33 PM (PDT) on Tuesday, October 4, 2005



Bleak House Press Pack Phase One
Category: TV Drama
Date: 04.10.2005

Introduction

Gillian Anderson, Denis Lawson, Charles Dance, Alistair McGowan, Pauline Collins and Johnny Vegas lead a star cast in a ground-breaking adaptation of Dickens' Bleak House for BBC ONE.

Bleak House is one of Dickens' most celebrated achievements - generally regarded as the greatest-ever depiction of Victorian London in fiction. It is a skilfully crafted thriller and passionate indictment of the legal system - which is as searingly relevant today as it was in the mid-19th century. The adaptation, written by multiple Bafta award-winner Andrew Davies, comprises a one-hour opening episode followed by 14 half-hour episodes. Shot in High Definition format, Bleak House will be shown twice weekly, using the pace, multiple storylines and cliff-hanger endings more usually associated with popular drama.

The cast has been assembled from different areas of the acting profession and their skills have blended seamlessly to recreate Dickensian England.

"We wanted to cast known faces from a variety of different backgrounds, all known to the audience that we are trying to attract," says Stafford Clark. "Getting Gillian Anderson was a huge coup for us and very unexpected because, although we wanted to get her, we weren't sure we'd be able to. Gillian is a big star - The X-Files has made her a household name - and yet from the moment she stepped on the set she was there for the show. She was a trouper and just got on with it and helped set the tone. If she had to roll her sleeves up and do something 25 times in pouring rain then she was there - not a problem. Other people started committing to the project, which was fantastic, and we ended up assembling the most extraordinary cast list - it's a cast list to die for. It covers the whole spectrum - from really well-established classical actors through to actors who people wouldn't necessary expect to see in a period drama. People really wanted to be part of it - and with 40 principal roles, there really isn't a weak performance. Everybody stepped up."

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Gillian hopes people will get hooked.

"Appointment television, something that people make sure they never miss, that they consider to be their show, has become very popular over the last ten years," she says. "Even though it is not set in a contemporary setting, there is something contemporary about the way it is shot - it's filmed in HD and it's in a half hour format and there are a lot of actors in it who people will recognise. And the way that Andrew Davies has written each episode means each ends in a tantalising way and people will really want to know what happens next."

Gillian's character, Lady Dedlock, is a society beauty and on the surface appears icy cool. But she has a skeleton in the cupboard that, if revealed, could destroy her.

"Lady Dedlock is a woman who is a hiding a secret – in fact a couple of secrets," explains Gillian. "And they are the kind of secrets that could ruin her. So it is the holding of the secrets and the grief around them which contributes to her iciness, which is something that has built up over many years. It's all about not following one's heart, it's all about settling for the socially acceptable way of handling a situation, which is an empty unfulfilling way."

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