While 'Bleak House' is a mighty fine book, it is also a very complicated one and one of the hardest Charles Dickens books to get into. Will admit to struggling with it on first read back when in secondary school, but it grew on me significantly over time and watching this adaptation actually did help. Dickens is not easy to adapt, and this applies for especially the more narratively sprawling ones, 'Bleak House' is one of the most difficult because it is long, has so many characters and has a lot going on (a lot of quite complex).
Of the two versions of 'Bleak House' seen, the other being the 1985 adaptation, it is hard to pick which one's the better of the two. Both are wonderful in their own way as adaptations and on their own merits, the earlier one is a little more faithful (though anybody who has not seen it yet and can be picky about pacing should be warned that it is slow) while this one is tighter in pace and for many perhaps more accessible.
This is a wonderful setting up episode of one of one of BBC's best period drama adaptations. They have become very hit and miss over-time and 'Bleak House' is a fond reminder of what they were like at their best.
Like the rest of the adaptation, Episode 1 looks fantastic. It's beautifully shot and the Victorian era is nailed in both look and atmosphere, although the buildings and costumes are so handsome to look at one can feel and smell the full impact of the dangerous living conditions present in the era. The music fits nicely.
Apparent from this first episode, a great job is done making such a complex story accessible and easy to follow while treating the source material and characters with intelligence and respect. There is not a changed beyond recognition vibe here. The dialogue is thought provoking and with the right emotional impact, type and amount, and while the story is setting things up it doesn't take too long to get to the point and there is not a sense that too little happens.
Everybody in the cast excels, with the outstanding performances coming from Gillian Anderson's haunted and aristocratic Lady Dedlock and Charles Dance's sinister Tulkinghorn. Loved the understated dignity of Denis Lawson as Jarndyce. Anna Maxwell Martin avoids making Esther too meek and Burn Gorman is a perfectly cast Guppy, would say the cast for the Dedlock of Timothy West. Nathaniel Parker is a Skimpole everybody loves to hate.
My only minor issue was with Clamb, saw no point to his character.
In conclusion, a wonderful start. 10/10