Wednesday 25 January 2017

592 Dombey and Son



First  viewed : 15  January  1983

I  normally  stuck  with  the  charts  on  Radio  One  rather  than  the  Sunday  tea  time  classic  serial  on  BBC  One  but I  made  an  exception  for  this  10  part  adaptation  of  the  Dickens  novel.

The   reason  was  that  six  months  earlier, during  the  school  holidays, I  had  borrowed  the  book  from  Littleborough  Library  for  a  summer  read, probably  because   I  was  conscious  that  my  sister  was  becoming  somewhat  better  read  than  me. I  suspect  I  picked  it  for  its  relative  obscurity , having  no  outstanding  character   like  Uriah  Heep  or Mr  Bumble  to  guarantee  its  immortality. As  I  was  often  wont  to  do  at  this  time, I  made  a  note of  who  I'd  like  to  cast  in  each  part  in  an  adaptation..

I  was  pretty  surprised  when  I  realised  that  the  BBC  were  broadcasting  an  adaptation  so  soon  afterwards  and  gobsmacked  when  I  saw  that  I'd  called  a  major  casting  decision  exactly  right. I  thought  the part  of  Mr Carker, Dombey's  right  hand  man  who  is  slyly  embezzling  the  company's  funds  while  stroking  his  chief's  considerable  ego,  would  be  perfect  for  Blake's  Seven's  Paul  Darrow  and  someone  obviously  agreed  with  me.

In  the  other  main  parts , the  dour.   awesomely  self-satisfied  Dombey  was  placed  in  the  capable  hands  of  Julian  Glover  while  his  cruelly  neglected  daughter  Florence  was  played  by  future  sexpot  ( but  very  demure here )  Lysette  Anthony. I  can't  remember  who  I'd  earmarked  in  either case.

The  adaptation  was  OK, perhaps  a  little  stiff,  and,  as  always  with  Dickens, somewhat  hollowed  out  with  colourful  but  inessential  characters  excised  altogether.  I  remember  my  sister  being  quite  affected  by  the  final   reconciliation  scene  between  Florence  and  her  father  which  rather  surprised  me.

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