''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby'' is a nine-hour adaptation of the novel by

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...

. It is a recording of the stage play by The Royal Shakespeare Company at

The Old Vic The Old Vic is a 1,000-seat, not-for-profit producing theatre in Waterloo, London, England. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, and renamed in 1833 the Royal Victoria Theatre. In 1871 it was rebuilt and reopened as the Royal ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. It was

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

's first major drama commission.

Plot

For a detailed plot, see ''

The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby ''Nicholas Nickleby'' or ''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby'' (or also ''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, Containing a Faithful Account of the Fortunes, Misfortunes, Uprisings, Downfallings, and Complete Career of the ...

''.

Cast

* Roger Rees as

Nicholas Nickleby ''Nicholas Nickleby'' or ''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby'' (or also ''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, Containing a Faithful Account of the Fortunes, Misfortunes, Uprisings, Downfallings, and Complete Career of the ...

* Emily Richard as Kate Nickleby *

Jane Downs Jane Margaret Downs (22 January 1935 – 20 May 2015) was an English actress. Downs was born in Bromley, Kent, England. She started her career in the theatre, and later appeared on radio and in film, playing Kenneth More's wife in '' A Nigh ...

as Mrs. Nickleby * John Woodvine as Ralph Nickleby *

Edward Petherbridge Edward Petherbridge (born 3 August 1936) is an English actor, writer and artist. Among his many roles, he portrayed Lord Peter Wimsey in the 1987 BBC television adaptations of Dorothy L. Sayers' novels, and Guildenstern in Tom Stoppard's ''R ...

as Newman Noggs * David Threlfall as Smike * Alun Armstrong as Wackford Squeers *

Suzanne Bertish Suzanne Bertish (born 7 August 1951, Hammersmith, London) is an English actress. Educated at Woldingham School, Bertish joined the Royal Shakespeare Company and appeared in many of its productions, including its marathon eight-and-a-half-ho ...

as Fanny Squeers *

Bob Peck Robert Peck (23 August 1945 – 4 April 1999) was an English actor who played Ronald Craven in the television serial ''Edge of Darkness'', for which he won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor. He was also known for his role as game warden Robe ...

as John Browdie *

Nicholas Gecks Nicholas Gecks is a British actor who appeared in Series Four of ''Rumpole of the Bailey'' as his modernising colleague Charles Hearthstoke. Early life Gecks was born in Penang, Malaysia in 1952. Career Gecks starred as Father Mike in the 1983 ...

as Lord Verisopht * Christopher Benjamin as Vincent Crummles *

David Lloyd Meredith David Lloyd Meredith (30 October 1933 – 22 October 2008) was an English actor. He came from a Welsh family background, but was born in London. His best known role was as uniform Sergeant, then Detective Sergeant (finally Detective Inspector) ...

as Charles Cheeryble *

Christopher Ravenscroft Christopher Ravenscroft (born 1946) is an English actor, best known for his recurring role as DI Mike Burden in ''The Ruth Rendell Mysteries'', the ITV adaptation of Ruth Rendell's Inspector Wexford mysteries. Biography Ravenscroft was born in ...

as Frank Cheeryble * Jeffrey Dench as Arthur Gride * Lucy Gutteridge as Madeleine Bray

Awards

This production won the Outstanding Miniseries Primetime Emmy Award. It was also nominated for the following Primetime Emmy awards: Outstanding Achievement in Hairstyling, Outstanding Art Direction for a Limited Series or a Special, and Outstanding Individual Achievement - Graphic Design and Title Sequences. Roger Rees was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie, David Threlfall was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie and

David Edgar (playwright) David Edgar (born 26 February 1948) is a British playwright and writer who has had more than sixty of his plays published and performed on stage, radio and television around the world, making him one of the most prolific dramatists of the post-1 ...

was nominated for Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie, or Dramatic Special.

References

External links

* * British drama films Films based on Nicholas Nickleby Films directed by Jim Goddard Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries winners Television series set in the 1830s Television shows based on works by Charles Dickens 1980s English-language films 1980s British films {{1980s-UK-film-stub