Middlemarch (1994 TV serial)

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Middlemarch
Directed by	Anthony Page
Written by	George Eliot (novel) Andrew Davies
Starring	Juliet Aubrey Rufus Sewell
Distributed by	BBC
Release date(s)	1994
Running time	375 min
Language	English
IMDb profile

George Eliot's novel Middlemarch (1871) has been adapted for television twice, and will be adapted as a forthcoming feature length film (2009). This version of Middlemarch, was directed by Anthony Page, with a screenplay by Andrew Davies. It starred Juliet Aubrey, Rufus Sewell, Douglas Hodge and Patrick Malahide. Andrew Davies will also be the screenwriter for a 2009 film adaptation. ^[1]

1 Plot summary
2 Cast
3 Awards
4 Reactions
5 Notes
6 External links

[edit] Plot summary

In this version of George Eliot's novel, Dorothea Brooke (Juliet Aubrey) attempts to satisfy her underdeveloped intellect through marriage to the Reverend Edward Casaubon (Patrick Malahide), a man twice her age. The marriage proves unsatisfying and ends with Casaubon's unexpected death. Dorothea eventually meets Will Ladislaw (Rufus Sewell), an event which leads to further complications.

For a full length summary see: Middlemarch plot summary.

[edit] Cast

Juliet Aubrey as Dorothea Brooke
Patrick Malahide as Rev. Edward Casaubon
Rufus Sewell as Will Ladislaw
Douglas Hodge as Dr Tertius Lydgate
Caroline Harker as Celia Brooke

[edit] Awards

British Academy Television Awards - Best Actress (Juliet Aubrey), Best Make Up, Best Original Television Music
Broadcasting Press Guild Awards - Best Actress (Juliet Aubrey)
Writers' Guild of Great Britain - Best Dramatised Serial
Television and Radio Industries Club Awards - BBC Programme of the Year

[edit] Reactions

In a 28 March 1994 review for The New York Times, Elizabeth Kolbert argued that the mini-series was a hit in England as it, "mesmerized millions of viewers here, setting off a mini-craze for Victorian fiction. In its wake there were Middlemarch lectures, Middlemarch comics, even a wave of Middlemarch debates. Authors and columnists argued in the London papers over whether Dorothea would, in fact, live happily ever after, whether Casaubon, if left alone, would have finished his great work and finally whether Will Ladislaw entered his marriage bed a virgin." ^[2] In an 11 April 1994 review in Time magazine, John Elson also noted this fact, further stating that the series, "was a recent critical and popular success in Britain, leading to lectures and even debates on the novel. As a result of the show, a Penguin paperback of the novel topped best-seller lists for five weeks, and is still doing well. The town of Stamford in Lincolnshire, where exteriors were filmed, is preparing for a summertime influx of tourists." ^[3]