This miniseries was released on Masterpiece in the same season as an adaptation of Great Expectations. I’d read the extant pages of Edwin Drood in preparation for that Charles Dickens television smorgasbord, and I remember that, while I was more excited for Great Expectations, I wound up liking this one more.
John Jasper, the tortured choirmaster of the quiet village of Cloisterham, has long harbored a seething jealousy against his nephew Edwin. Mr. Jasper views Edwin as dismissively ungrateful for the extraordinary opportunities that have been handed to him by virtue of his circumstance, chief of which is his engagement to the beautiful young Rosa Bud. When Edwin disappears under mysterious circumstances, the villagers suspect Neville Landless, a hotheaded young man recently arrived to the country from Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka,) but Rosa knows of Mr. Jasper’s obsession with her full well and believes the culprit to be someone much closer to home.
Any attempt to adapt Edwin Drood has to reckon with the fact that it’s unfinished, significantly so – it was probably only about half written when Dickens passed away. As such, quite a bit of invention is called for to bring the story to a resolution. I have to say, I’m a fan of this one. It’s wild, but I remember watching it for the first time and thinking, “Dickens would so pull something like that,” at some of its various twists and turns. While I won’t spoil anything, I think it offers up some good surprises, and I mostly like how things shake out.
And as for the material that is present, I’d say, overall, the miniseries does a fine job delivering on the character(s) of the book, which I think is always the key to a successful Dickens adaptation. His work is all about characters – oodles of colorful, memorable folks populating the story – and character – the sense of mood and environment that he creates – and this production handles both nicely. All the characters feel sharply drawn. Neville and Helena Landless get a bit more of a nuanced hand (unlike the musical version, which, in the year of our Lord 2012, put future Tony winner Jessie Mueller and future Tony nominee Andy Karl in honest-to-goodness brownface, my god,) the dynamic between Mr. Jasper and Edwin is fascinating, and I love the depictions of Mr. Grewgious and his industrious clerk Bazzard. I admittedly miss the inclusion of the delightful Mr. Tartar, but at a tight two hours and with an ending to make up, I get that something had to go. As for character, the miniseries brings an eerie, creeping sense of dread, the tension always being pierced with a dose of humor right when we need it. This miniseries feels very Dickens throughout, which I didn’t think was the case with its contemporary adaptation of Great Expectations.
Great acting from top to bottom. Matthew Rhys, who I saw more recently in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, tears it up as the intense, troubled Mr. Jasper, and Freddie Fox’s Edwin provides a bright, easy contrast to Mr. Jasper’s darkness (I always take notice of Fox in other projects, such as Pride, and it’s because of this role.) Tamzin Merchant does well with Rosa’s extreme situation and is believable as someone others would go to great lengths to look out for. Sacha Dhawan (former History Boy and current Master!) and Amber Rose Revah (lately Madani on The Punisher) play the Landlesses with the fierce dignity of two South Asians dropped into the middle of tiny English village full of xenophobic busybodies. Alun Armstrong is wonderfully warm as Rosa’s solicitor Mr. Grewgious, and David Dawson is a hoot as Bazzard. I also love the comedy stylings of Ron Cook as the drunken stonemason Mr. Durdles and young Alfie Davis as his sidekick Deputy.
Warnings
Violence, drinking/smoking/drug use, veiled sexual references, and strong thematic elements (including sexual harassment and racism.)
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