Little Women (2017 TV series)
Little Women | |
---|---|
Genre | Drama |
Based on | Little Women by Louisa May Alcott |
Written by | Heidi Thomas |
Directed by | Vanessa Caswill |
Starring | |
Music by | Stuart Earl, Rebecca Dale, Andrew Bird |
Country of origin | United Kingdom United States |
Original language | English |
No. of series | 1 |
No. of episodes | 3 |
Production | |
Cinematography | Piers McGrail |
Editors |
|
Running time | 57 minutes |
Production company | Playground Television UK |
Original release | |
Network | BBC One PBS Masterpiece |
Release | 26 December 28 December 2017 | –
Little Women is a 2017 BBC television historical period drama adaptation of the 1868 novel by Louisa May Alcott. Adapted by Heidi Thomas, the miniseries was directed by Vanessa Caswill. Consisting of three episodes, the first broadcast was on BBC One on Boxing Day 2017 and the following two days. The cast includes Emily Watson, Michael Gambon and Angela Lansbury.[1][2][3]
Cast
- Margaret "Marmee" March – Emily Watson
- Robert "Father" March – Dylan Baker
- Meg March – Willa Fitzgerald
- Jo March – Maya Thurman-Hawke
- Beth March – Annes Elwy
- Amy March – Kathryn Newton
- Laurie Laurence – Jonah Hauer-King
- James Laurence – Michael Gambon
- Aunt Josephine March – Angela Lansbury
- Hannah – Eleanor Methven
- John Brooke – Julian Morris
- Estelle Valnor – Nelly Henrion
- Frank Vaughan – Felix Mackenzie-Barrow
- Kate Vaughan – Mei Bignall
- Soldier – Patrick Flannery
- Bandaged Young Man – Fode Simbo
- Hairdresser – Richard Pepple
- Aunt Carroll – Kathleen Warner Yeates
- Professor Bhaer – Mark Stanley
Production
Little Women was commissioned by BBC Drama in May 2017, along with 10 other television dramas.[4] The three-part series was adapted by Heidi Thomas, who created Call the Midwife, and directed by Vanessa Caswill. It was produced by Playground Television UK with PBS Masterpiece.[4]
Little Women is set in Concord, Massachusetts, but was filmed in County Wicklow, Ireland.[5] Filming took place in the coastal town of Bray and at the Ardmore Studios from July 2017.[5][4]
Irish costume designer Eimer Ní Mhaoldomhnaigh created the clothing for the miniseries.[6]
Reception
The UK media reception for the programme was very positive. Euan Ferguson in The Observer said: "The grit and pain of the girls' struggles to define themselves, in that fast-changing age, in that still young country, rang wholly fresh and credible... all in all, a triumph".[7] Ben Lawrence of The Daily Telegraph described it as: "the single best thing on television over Christmas... a delight from start to finish – a poignant, funny version of Louisa May Alcott's 1869 novel which made the four March sisters seem like both exciting new creations and old friends,"[8] while Alex O'Connell in The Times said: "writer Heidi Thomas (Call the Midwife, Cranford) reminds us why we love it and shows us the classic in a bright new light."[9] Ben Allen of the Radio Times felt the online reception amongst the public to be more mixed, with some viewers preferring the interpretation of earlier filmed adaptations [10], while others were left moved but conflicted by the accurate depiction of the novel's conclusion.[11] Episode 1 was seen by 5.17 million viewers and Episode 3 by 4.38 million according to BARB's consolidated viewing data; whereas Episode 2 was watched by fewer than 4.31 million viewers and thus did not feature in BBC1's top 30 most viewed programmes for week ending December 31, 2017.[12]
References
- ^ "Episode 1, Series 1, Little Women - Credits - BBC One". BBC.
- ^ Ellis, Samantha (22 December 2017). "The big trouble with Little Women". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
- ^ Clarke, Stewart (26 December 2017). "New BBC, PBS Adaptation of 'Little Women' Puts Women Before and Behind the Camera". Variety. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
- ^ a b c Mitchell, Robert (4 May 2017). "BBC Announces New Adaptations of 'War of the Worlds,' 'Little Women'". Variety. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
- ^ a b Bley Griffiths, Eleanor (26 December 2017). "Where is Little Women filmed?". Radio Times. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
- ^ Cronin, Emily (26 December 2017). "Little Women: the story behind the 'homemade' costumes – and why Maya Hawke still wears her Victorian coat out and about in New York". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
- ^ Ferguson, Euan (2 January 2018). "The week in TV: Little Women, The Miniaturist, Eric, Ernie and Me and more". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
- ^ Lawrence, Ben (29 December 2017). "Little Women, episode 3 review: poignant, funny, and the single best thing on TV this Christmas". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
- ^ O'Connell, Alex (27 December 2017). "TV review: Little Women". The Times. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
- ^ Allen, Ben (27 December 2017). "Little Women viewers divided over BBC Boxing Day adaptation". Radio Times. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
- ^ Bley Griffiths, Eleanor (29 December 2017). "Little Women fans heartbroken over THAT ending: 'It always gets me'". Radio Times. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
- ^ http://www.barb.co.uk/viewing-data/weekly-top-30/
External links
- Little Women at IMDb