Dickens of London

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Dickens of London is a 1976 British TV miniseries from Yorkshire Television about the life of Charles Dickens. Roy Dotrice stars as Dickens and his father, John Dickens. The 13 one-hour episodes were written by Wolf Mankowitz and Marc Miller; Miller also produced the series, which was directed by Michael Ferguson (six episodes) and Marc Miller (seven). It aired in the United States in 1977. Mankowitz later published a companion book, Dickens of London (1976), based on his research for the screenplay. Each episode is a flashback: Dickens, now famous during a 1869 American reading tour, looks back over his life. Scenes show Dickens as a boy unhappy labeling pots of shoe blacking and as a young man realizing his literary gift. Mary Hogarth, the middle Hogarth daughter, dies at seventeen, and Dickens wears her ring for life. Georgina Hogarth, the youngest Hogarth daughter, comes to help run the household at Catherine Dickens's request. The series does not cover Ellen Ternan or Dickens's separation from Catherine in 1858. It focuses mainly on the influence of his spendthrift father, John Dickens, a naval clerk who spent more than he earned and is portrayed as an alcoholic, contributing to the family's money troubles. The script also weaves in passages from Dickens's own works.