Boobirt Stylish but barely mediocre overall

Maidexpl Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

Tayyab Torres Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Anoushka Slater While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Imhotep77 I actually just finished the book a month ago so it might have adversely affected my opinion since this adaptation is so very different than the book. Without going into details and risk spoilers, I just have to say the casting is subpar, except for Gillian Anderson as Miss Havisham. The streamlining and changes in plots are questionable, the loss of some characters and changes to their actions and personality render them un-Dickensian. There should be enough time in 3 hours to tell a closer story to the original but the 3 hours felt like 6, I was bored and unmoved. I remember watching Bleak House, also with Gillian Anderson, and couldn't get enough, this one, I couldn't wait for it to end.

KatherineGM Personally, this programme made my Christmas much better. I watched it with my family and it was just the kind of thing that was suitable for everyone. The actors were excellent, Gillian Anderson giving a very creepy yet sympathetic performance of Miss Havisham, and Harry Lloyd was pitched perfectly as the eccentric and loyal Herbert Pocket. Ray Winstone and Shaun Dooley were also heart breaking as the convict Magwitch and Pips kind brother-in-law Joe Gargery. But the person that stood out to me most was Douglas Booth as Pip. I'd only seen him before in Burberry magazines, and he is admittedly gorgeous and I'm now a fan :) but his acting ability far exceeded my expectations,he was very convincing and proved he is more than just a pretty- well, STUNNING face! The one thing that bothered me was Vanessa Kirby as Estella. It wasn't that she was bad, she just wasn't as good as everyone else. She's also supposed to be absolutely beautiful, but next to Douglas Booth she just looked plain and uninteresting, which isn't necessarily her fault. The scenery and setting were great, the young Pip and Estella were magical, and the whole thing was flawless, exceptional. There should have been more episodes because I felt very sad when it finished. Definitely recommended.

SkeletonTongue I'm rather surprised by some of the negative reviews here. This was a sumptuous production, extremely well cast and judiciously edited from the book. It went out at peak viewing time over the holiday period and drew in large numbers of viewers primarily because it targeted its audience extremely well. Yes it cuts characters from the book, Biddy for example, but with limited time and for the sake of streamlining the story these are characters only missed if you knew of their existence in the first place. For those new to Dickens and there will many, as every generation arrives at classic literature from it's own direction, it is a great introduction to the novel, which I encourage anyone to pick up and read.Standout performances are definitely Ray Winstone and Gillian Anderson, both obviously enjoying their roles enormously and inhabiting their characters perfectly. Any misgivings people have to the casting of the 43 year old Anderson as Miss Havisham should be put to one side. She is often presented as far too old a character in previous versions, so to complain that seven or eight years have been knocked off seems kind of redundant. I enjoyed Douglas Booth as Pip, and he managed to make him initially unlikeable and naive, yet eventually more sympathetic, despite being so 'pretty'! Hat's off to Paul Ritter as Wemmick and Harry Lloyd as Herbert Pocket too, both perfect!

Leofwine_draca Another example of BBC scriptwriters attempting to 'improve' on classic works of fiction, hence the existence of previous Christmas failures like THE TURN OF THE SCREW and WHISTLE AND I'LL COME TO YOU. GREAT EXPECTATIONS follows in the footsteps of those unwise productions and turns out to be another utterly forgettable adaptation.This miniseries is laid out over three hour-long episodes and yet contains less depth and material from the book than the shorter David Lean version. Much of the comedy from the book (like the bit with Joe not knowing where to put his hat) is excised, leaving this a maudlin, pretentious experience. New, endless scenes of characters arguing or sitting around tables are not a substitute for genuine penmanship.Although the production looks good, with some excellent atmospheric shots of Romney Marsh at the opening, like THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL the whole of the action takes place in only a handful of locations, which soon becomes repetitive. Where's the hustle and bustle of Victorian London, the feeling of another era brought to life? Not here, certainly.Of the cast, there's little to write home about. Douglas Booth (PILLARS OF THE EARTH) is adequate as Pip and Ray Winstone makes an excellent Magwith and deserves more screen time. Gillian Anderson's Miss Havisham is horrible, and not in a good way. She seems to be channelling the White Witch, talks in a silly little girl-voice and is about twenty years too young for the part. It's a pantomime performance and the worst I've seen of this actress. Vanessa Kirby's Estella is certainly not the woman that "any man would want to marry" and David Suchet and Mark Addy are both wasted in nothing roles.A distinctly lacklustre Dickens that takes away the very life and voice of the author, leaving only bland characters going through the motions.