HAVING READ THE NOVEL, it’s hard to imagine any other medium delivering the inspiring effect that Dickens achieved. This film version, in four episodes, nearly achieves it.

The Dickens story, for a brilliant plot and all else that it contains, features the most famous opening and closing lines: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times….. [Opening] “It is a far, far better thing I do, than I have ever done….[Closing]

I don’t recall that the series version included the opening lines, but it did allow the closing ones.

The trip back in time to the years leading up to 1789 and the French Revolution is worth the fare alone, but this production features some strong performances worthy of a timeless fiction classic.

 

–WRH