Bleak House. Poster of the 2005 TV series and cover of the 1853 book
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Bleak House
Charles Dickens, 1853
TV series vs book
Justin Chadwick, Susanna White, 2005

The longstanding estate battle of Jarndyce v Jarndyce hangs over the heads of many conflicting heirs, confused by multiple wills. Honoria, Lady Dedlock, the wife of the imperious baronet Sir Leicester, is also a possible beneficiary of the estate. Esther and the young doctor Allan Woodcourt are attracted to each other, but Esther feels unworthy and Allan accepts a commission as a navy physician.


Little Dorrit. Poster of the 2008 TV series and cover of the 1855 book
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Little Dorrit
Charles Dickens, 1855
TV series vs book
Adam Smith, Dearbhla Walsh, Diarmuid Lawrence, 2008

Since her birth in 1805, twenty-one years prior, Amy Dorrit has lived in the Marshalsea Prison for Debt, caring for her father, William, who now enjoys a position of privileged seniority as the Father of the Marshalsea. To help her family, Amy works as a seamstress for Mrs. Clennam, a cranky, cold and forbidding semi-invalid living in a crumbling home with servants, the sinister Jeremiah Flintwinch and his bumbling wife, Affery.


A Christmas Carol. Poster of the 1951 movie and cover of the 1843 book
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A Christmas Carol
Charles Dickens, 1843
movie vs book
Brian Desmond Hurst, 1951

Ebenezer Scrooge malcontentedly shuffles through life as a cruel miserly businessman until one fateful Christmas Eve when he is visited by three spirits, sent show him how his unhappy childhood and maladaptive adult behavior over has let him a selfish, lonely, bitter old man.


Our Mutual Friend. Poster of the 1998 TV series and cover of the 1865 book
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Our Mutual Friend
Charles Dickens, 1865
TV series vs book
Julian Farino, 1998

John Harmon, a young man whose inheritance depends on his marrying a woman he has never met, is found dead in the River Thames. The fortune passes into the hands of the working-class Boffins, who take into their new home both Bella Wilfer and a mysterious secretary known as Rokesmith. Meanwhile, Lizzie Hexam, the daughter of the boatman suspected of Harmon’s murder, is pursued by two suitors.


Martin Chuzzlewit. Poster of the 1994 TV series and cover of the 1844 book
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Martin Chuzzlewit
Charles Dickens, 1844
TV series vs book
Pedr James, 1994

Elderly, wealthy Martin Chuzzlewit is constantly hounded by his money-grubbing relations, a fact that depresses and embitters him. However, Martin disowns his grandson, also called Martin, after he falls in love with Mary. Young Martin decides to pursue a career as an architect, studying with dishonest architect Seth Pecksniff, who lives with his two daughters Charity and Mercy and good, kind-hearted apprentice Tom Pinch, whom he is exploiting as a servant.


Mickey's Christmas Carol. Poster of the 1983 movie and cover of the 1843 book, A Christmas Carol
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A Christmas Carol
Charles Dickens, 1843
movie vs book
Burny Mattinson, 1983

On Christmas Eve in 19th-century London, Ebenezer Scrooge is a surly money-lender who objects to the merriment of Christmas. His loyal employee Bob Cratchit (Mickey) requests to have half of Christmas Day off, to which Scrooge reluctantly accepts, but says Cratchit would be docked half a day’s pay. In his house, Scrooge encounters the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley (Goofy).


Blackadder's Christmas Carol. Poster of the 1988 movie and cover of the 1843 book, A Christmas Carol
VS3
A Christmas Carol
Charles Dickens, 1843
movie vs book
Richard Boden, 1988

Ebenezer Blackadder, the Victorian proprietor of a moustache shop, is the nicest man in England. He is everything that Ebenezer Scrooge was by the end of the original story: generous and kind to everybody, and sensitive to the misery of others. As a result, people take advantage of his kindness – Mrs. Scratchit and an orphan take all his money, and a beadle takes his food.


A Christmas Carol. Poster of the 1984 movie and cover of the 1843 book
VS3
A Christmas Carol
Charles Dickens, 1843
movie vs book
Clive Donner, 1984

On Christmas Eve of 1843, Ebenezer Scrooge, a miserly London commodities trader, does not share the merriment of Christmas. Scrooge declines his nephew Fred Hollywell’s invitation for Christmas dinner and reluctantly accepts his loyal employee Bob Cratchit’s request to have Christmas off since there will be no business for Scrooge during the day.


Great Expectations. Poster of the 1946 movie and cover of the 1861 book
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Great Expectations
Charles Dickens, 1861
movie vs book
David Lean, 1946

Orphan Pip discovers through lawyer Mr. Jaggers that a mysterious benefactor wishes to ensure that he becomes a gentleman. Reunited with his childhood patron, Miss Havisham, and his first love, the beautiful but emotionally cold Estella, he discovers that the elderly spinster has gone mad from having been left at the altar as a young woman, and has made her charge into a warped, unfeeling heartbreaker.


Oliver Twist. Poster of the 1948 movie and cover of the 1838 book
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Oliver Twist
Charles Dickens, 1838
movie vs book
David Lean, 1948

A young woman in labour makes her way to a parish workhouse and dies after giving birth to a boy, who is systematically named Oliver Twist by the workhouse authorities. As the years go by, Oliver and the rest of the child inmates suffer from the callous indifference of the officials in charge: beadle Mr. Bumble and matron Mrs. Corney.


A Tale of Two Cities. Poster of the 1935 movie and cover of the 1859 book
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A Tale of Two Cities
Charles Dickens, 1859
movie vs book
Jack Conway, Robert Z. Leonard, 1935

The exciting story of Dr. Manette, who escapes the horrors of the infamous Bastille prison in Paris. The action switches between London and Paris on the eve of the revolution where we witness ‘the best of times and the worst of times’ – love, hope, the uncaring French Aristocrats and the terror of a revolutionary citizen’s army intent on exacting revenge.


Oliver Twist. Poster of the 1999 TV series and cover of the 1838 book
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Oliver Twist
Charles Dickens, 1838
TV series vs book
Renny Rye, 1999

Little Oliver Twist, already abused, starved, and overworked, is apprenticed to an undertaker and runs away to London after being bullied by an older apprentice. There, he is taken in by Fagin, a fence and thief-trainer, and his gang of pickpockets. He is befriended by Nancy, a good-hearted prostitute, and meets her lover, the brutal housebreaker Bill Sikes.