Masterpiece BBC period drama based on classic novel is 'best of all time'

A BBC period drama based on one of Charles Dickens' novels has been voted the "best period drama of all time." BritishTV.com gave Bleak House the honour, and it is available to watch free of charge on BBC iPlayer.

The fifteen-part BBC television drama is a serial adaptation of the Dickens novel of the same name, originally published in 1852. It was shown on BBC One in 2005. The all-star cast included Denis Lawson, Anna Maxwell Martin, Patrick Kennedy, Carey Mulligan, Gillian Anderson, Charles Dance, Alun Armstrong and Timothy West.

The series synopsis reads: "Secrets abound in this 2005 television adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel. Fortunes hang in the balance, awaiting the outcome of a legal case in the Court of Chancery in Victorian London. Meanwhile, the trials and tribulations of those awaiting the case's outcome, weave through Dickens' indictment of the chancery system. Maxwell Martin stars as Esther, with Anderson as Lady Dedlock, and Lawson as John Jarndyce."

Bleak House was met with much praise but also some criticism, as with any series. Despite this, it is ranked in the top 15 of Metacritic's Best TV Shows of All Time, with an aggregate critics' score of 93/100, which remains the highest for any British drama.

Radio Times praised the programme, stating: "Anna Maxwell Martin as Esther was a superb heroine, but in years to come it's Anderson's portrayal of a secretly tormented aristocrat that we'll treasure."

And of Charles Dance, the publication said: "As the scheming attorney-at-law, Dance was wolfishly lethal, his hooded eyes and sonorous voice loaded with evil. It's almost enough to make you take against lawyers."

Bleak House has an 86% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, one viewer said: "Made during a golden age of BBC dramas, when considerations such as story, immersion, and the aesthetics of a piece of fiction were paramount above any other nonsense, everything about this Bleak House adaptation is excellent - from the set and costume designs to the superb cast and the acting."

Bleak House (2005) is available to stream on BBC iPlayer free of charge right now.