Stars: Paul McGann, Keeley Hawes, Anna Friel, Steven Mackintosh, Peter Vaughan, Pam Ferris, David Morrissey

Director: Julian Farino

Summary: From the dark waters of Victorian London, Charles Dickens weaves a tale of crime and compassion. Poor Lizzie and her father eke out a living on the banks of the Thames until one day they recover a body that links them with another world - the world of dinner parties and the household of the Wilfers. As their lives intertwine a complex story of money and love emerges.

In this television adaptation of Charles Dickens' last completed novel, John Harmon (Mackintosh) is a young man who must marry a stranger in order to inherit a sizable sum of money. Rather than take his offered fate, Harmon decides to fake his own demise in order to discover the identity of his unknown betrothed.

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Dickens was the master of Victorian social satire, ruthlessly exposing the cruelty and absurdity that supported the strictly hierarchical class-structure of the day. This superb production of Our Mutual Frienddoes full justice to his darkest, most complex novel, fleshing out the satirical bones of the plot with performances that eschew caricature in favour of psychological depth. Anna Friel's Bella is wonderfully complex, her innate goodness struggling with her love of money and desire for advancement. Paul McGann, as the lawyer Wrayburn, is also superb, wrestling with the implications of his feelings for Lizzie. And of course, this being Dickens and the BBC, there's a terrific supporting cast, including Timothy Spall as the melancholy articulator of skeletons, Mr Venus. As the fortunes of the characters rise and fall, the river Thames flows eternally on, the symbolic backbone of this remarkable story. At six hours, this version of Our Mutual Friendis a long production, but not a moment too long. A mystery, a love story, a critique of the pursuit of wealth and status, this is perhaps the best adaptation of Dickens ever to be committed to film. --Simon Leake, Amazon.com

Aspect Ratio:	16:9 Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Documentary, The Making Of, Music Edit
Year:	1998
Release Date:	August 20, 2001
Runtime:	350 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	B B C D V D 1078
Keywords:	Classic, Friend, Book, Our, Two, General, Wide, Screen, Tv, Drama, Period, Discs, Based, Mutual
Genre:	Drama