''Little Women'' is a British 2017

BBC television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It p ...

historical drama A historical drama (also period drama, period piece or just period) is a dramatic work set in the past, usually used in the context of film and television, which presents history, historical events and characters with varying degrees of fiction s ...

adaptation of the 1868-69 two-volume novel by

Louisa May Alcott Louisa May Alcott (; November 29, 1832March 6, 1888) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet best known for writing the novel ''Little Women'' (1868) and its sequels ''Good Wives'' (1869), ''Little Men'' (1871), and ''Jo's Boys'' ...

. Adapted by

Heidi Thomas Heidi Thomas (born 13 August 1962) is an English screenwriter and playwright. Career After reading English at Liverpool University, Thomas gained national attention when her play, ''Shamrocks and Crocodiles'', won the John Whiting Award in ...

, the miniseries was directed by Vanessa Caswill. The three one-hour episodes were first broadcast on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

on Boxing Day 2017 and the following two days. The cast includes

Emily Watson Emily Margaret Watson (born 14 January 1967) is an English actress. She began her career on stage and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1992. In 2002, she starred in productions of ''Twelfth Night'' and ''Uncle Vanya'' at the Donmar Ware ...

Michael Gambon Sir Michael John Gambon (; 19 October 1940 – 27 September 2023) was an Irish-English actor. Gambon started his acting career with Laurence Olivier as one of the original members of the Royal National Theatre. Over his six-decade-long career ...

and

Angela Lansbury Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury (October 16, 1925 – October 11, 2022) was an Irish-British and American actress, producer, and singer. In a career spanning 80 years, she played various roles on stage and screen. Among her numerous accolades wer ...

. Production was supported by PBS and the miniseries was shown as part of its ''Masterpiece'' anthology.

Cast

Production

''Little Women'' was commissioned by BBC Drama in May 2017, along with 10 other television dramas. The three-part series was adapted by

, who created ''

Call the Midwife ''Call the Midwife'' is a British period drama television series about a group of nurse midwives working in the East End of London in the late 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. The principal cast of the show has included Jessica Raine, Miranda Hart, ...

'', and directed by Vanessa Caswill. It was produced by Playground Television UK with PBS Masterpiece. ''Little Women'' is set in

Concord, Massachusetts Concord () is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. In the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the town population was 18,491. The United States Census Bureau considers Concord part of Greater Boston. The town center is n ...

, but was filmed in

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606 in Ireland, 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces ...

, Ireland. Filming took place in the coastal town of

Bray Bray may refer to: Places France * Bray, Eure, in the Eure ''département'' * Bray, Saône-et-Loire, in the Saône-et-Loire ''département'' * Bray-Dunes, in the Nord ''département'' * Bray-en-Val, in the Loiret ''département'' * Bray-et-Lû ...

and at the

Ardmore Studios Ardmore Studios, in Bray, County Wicklow, is Ireland's oldest film studio. It opened in 1958 under the management of Emmet Dalton and Louis Elliman. Since then, it has evolved through many managements and owners. It has been the base for man ...

from July 2017. Irish costume designer Eimer Ní Mhaoldomhnaigh created the clothing for the miniseries.

Episodes

Reception

The UK media reception for the programme was very positive. ''Little Women'' has an approval rating of 82% on

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

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, based on 38 reviews, and an average rating of 7.6/10. The website's critical consensus states: "Heidi Thomas' ''Little Women'' miniseries offers a charming, intimate, and decidedly loyal adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's original story." Euan Ferguson in ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'' said: "The grit and pain of the girls' struggles to define themselves, in that fast-changing age, in that still young country, rang wholly fresh and credible... all in all, a triumph". Ben Lawrence of ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' described it as: "the single best thing on television over Christmas... a delight from start to finish – a poignant, funny version of Louisa May Alcott's 1869 novel which made the four March sisters seem like both exciting new creations and old friends", while Alex O'Connell in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' said: "writer Heidi Thomas (Call the Midwife, Cranford) reminds us why we love it and shows us the classic in a bright new light". Mike Hale of

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

had a more negative review saying that: "What we get is a fairly faithful rendition of the book's events that lacks the warmth and depth of feeling that make the book worth reading." Ben Allen of the ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...

'' felt the online reception amongst the public to be more mixed, with some viewers preferring the interpretation of earlier filmed adaptations, while others were left moved but conflicted by the accurate depiction of the novel's conclusion. Episode one was seen by 5.17 million viewers and episode three by 4.38 million according to BARB's consolidated viewing data; whereas episode two was watched by fewer than 4.31 million viewers and thus did not feature in BBC1's top 30 most viewed programmes for week ending 31 December 2017.

References

External links

* * {{Little Women 2017 British television series debuts 2017 British television series endings 2010s British drama television series British English-language television shows BBC television dramas 2010s British television miniseries Television series about the American Civil War Television series based on Little Women