Great Expectations viewers switch off just minutes into new series as they bombard BBC with complaints
BBC VIEWERS have been left unimpressed with the first episode of Great Expectations with many saying they switched off just minutes in.
The latest version of the Charles Dickens classic – adapted by Peaky Blinders writer Steven Knight – began on BBC One last night.
Moving away from the usual retelling of the story, Steven said he wanted to try a different approach from the romanticised sensibilities of previous versions and include more of the grimier aspects of Victorian life.
He said: “It’s everyone’s right to react in the way they want to react. But I would say that the book exists, it is still there.
“This is not an attempt to say the book is wrong or this is better.”
Opium, violence and the maggot-infested streets of London all feature in the new series, while in one scene, lead character Pip (Fionn Whitehead) says: “Take your f***ing hands off me.”
Meanwhile, the criminal Magwitch (Johnny Harris) says the British Empire was “built on the lies of privileged white men” in another scene.
Even before the first episode dropped it prompted Sky News host Rowan Dean to say: “What a joke” about such changes, while Sir John Hayes, chairman of the Common Sense Group of MPs said: “The trend amongst clueless politically correct zealots is to bastardise the great canon of English literature either by vulgarising it in this way or sanitising it.”
He continued: “Classic works deserve to be respected and their authors revered. It is an insult to both the texts and the writers to impose this kind of drivel on them.”
And now the first episode of the show has landed, which sees Oscar-winning actress Olivia Colman portray Miss Havisham as an opium addict, it is clear many viewers are not impressed.
One tweeted: “Expectations of BBC woke nonsense realised.”
“Already hit the off button #GreatExpectations,” added another.
A third viewer commented: “I’m not feeling #Greatexpectations here. Feeling the need to turn it off!”
While a fifth wrote: “Great Expectations, another great story destroyed on the altar of virtue signalling. Shame on you #BBC.”
It wasn’t all doom and gloom though as many viewers left positive comments about the adaptation.
One wrote: “I must say that as a lover of Dickens I did not have #GreatExpectations of this new version
@BBC but having watched the 1st episode I was pleasantly surprised – it captured the essence of the book and struck the right balance IMHO. Very good so far.”
“Well I quite enjoyed this adaptation of #GreatExpectations Looking forward to part 2!,” added a second viewer.
While a third wrote: “Enjoyed #GreatExpectations last night, saw it trending this morning – wish I hadn’t bothered looking. Basic concept of ‘adaptation’ seems lost on a lot of people. Surprisingly, given how many seem to be such ardent admirers of the classics…”
Great Expectations is on Sunday at 9pm on BBC1. TV Mag is available for free every Saturday, only in The Sun