![]() This recent BBC adaptation of Dickens' unfinished final work for me takes too many liberties with the tale. Then the audio-montages that accompanied the more drug- induced scenes were creatively mixed and really took me into the aural world of 'Drood'. It was more creative than any other costume drama I can remember - some of the audio had me guessing whether they were original sound recordings from the church or a post-production echo chamber - I really couldn't tell the difference. Another notable point about this production was the sound. On an aesthetic note, some costume dramas have distractingly bad hair (I loved Sandy's Welch's Jane Eyre but Toby Stephen's hair was not good for example) - 'Drood' has none of this - I completely believed everyone's appearance and was not distracted by poor hairpieces for once (minor point but I wanted to praise that aspect!). Matthew Rhys was astounding - at the beginning of the first part his character had some moments of charisma (well, one, perhaps when he was singing to the choir and demonstrating flat and sharp keys) but this didn't last when he spiralled downwards into his obsessions and became a truly awful character but very sympathetic at the same time. This was a brilliant production, however. From that standpoint, I have nothing to say about how this production was adapted. I'd love to see where he left off and where the screenwriter had to fill in the gaps. ![]() I haven't read The Mystery of Edwin Drood yet and it has now moved up the list of Dickens books that I want to read. Way too many twists are attempted in this latter part so that it feels muddled and ludicrous, nothing like Dickens at all. The ending is particularly bad, hinging around one massive plot hole/contrivance (a character appearing from nowhere at just the right time) that it's impossible to ignore. It's clear that this segment wasn't written by Dickens, instead completed by the scriptwriter. What a shame, then, that the second part just doesn't hold up. Kudos too for the familiar character actors fleshing out more minor roles: Julia McKenzie, Ian McNeice and Alun Armstrong all acquit themselves well, and Rory Kinnear (FIRST MEN IN THE MOON) seems to be going from strength to strength. It's split into two instalments, and the first does admirably well in setting up the chessboard of characters: Matthew Rhys (BROTHERS AND SISTERS) is great as the sweaty and sinister Jack Jasper. My viewing of this one benefited from not having read the famously incomplete story that Dickens died during writing. The hilarious scenes involving churchyard urchin Deputy are alone better than anything in that other awful production. The good news is that it's a damn sight better than GREAT EXPECTATIONS, being noticeably more 'Dickensian' in feel, with plenty of amusingly monkeyed supporting characters. THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD is the second of two Dickens adaptations that the BBC showed over the New Year 2011/2012. In conclusion, solid and very well-done especially for the performances. Freddie Fox shows command of the Dickenesian language, Tamzin Merchant is appealingly pert and Rory Kinnear, Ian McNeise, Julia MacKenzie and Alun Armstrong turn in strongly dependable performances too. It is a very well-performed adaptation too, Matthew Rhys steals the show, intense and heartfelt it is a brilliant performance. The story is tense and suspenseful, with some good twists and turns and very compelling storytelling, more so in the first half admittedly. The dialogue is carefully and intelligently adapted, making an effort to sound Dickenesian and not too contemporary, also nobly developing the characters in rich detail. But it is very handsomely filmed and remarkably authentic to the period it's set in, while the score is unobtrusive and hauntingly beautiful. ![]() It does suffer from incompleteness(the book doesn't help) and its contrived and abrupt ending. This adaptation is not perfect but does nobly with its source material. The Mystery of Edwin Drood is both captivating and frustrating, captivating in its tension and suspense as well as the titular character and frustrating in its incompleteness.
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