SummaryBleak House is a new adaptation of Dickens's great story. Three young orphans - Esther, Richard and Ada - are sent to live at Bleak House, where they receive a friendly welcome from their rich guardian John Jarndyce. But all is not as it seems at Bleak House, and nothing but bad luck follows those who stay there.
Bleak House
Season 1 Premiere:
Oct 27, 2005
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
93
User score
Generally Favorable
7.8
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Metascore
Universal Acclaim
100% Positive
14 Reviews
14 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
100
The perfect marriage of television and literature.
100
While a quintessential Masterpiece Theatre production, Bleak House doesn't indulge in the languid pacing and preciousness that weigh down some other PBS period pieces.
100
Dark, textured, and lively--this is how Dickens is done. [20 Jan 2006, p.66]
90
This spectacular six-part adaptation of the lit classic feels more like a plush Jane Austen tale than Dickens.
90
As pleasurable as its tale is grim.
90
If there is any criticism to be made, it is that the opening half-hour plunges the unsuspecting viewer into an unfamiliar foreign world of soot and grime and foul deeds and motives. Once settled in, however, this is very addictive television, indeed.
80
This "Bleak House" is sublimely bleak, as well as richly textured, superbly acted and intermittently funny. Fans of the epic adaptations that have long been the bread and butter of "Masterpiece Theatre" won't want to miss it.
User score
Generally Favorable
85% Positive
45 Ratings
45 Ratings
6% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
9% Negative
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
Jan 21, 2026
10
Perhaps the best adaptation of a **** novel I've seen. I watched the whole series on iPlayer early last year and then enjoyed it all over again this year (2026). The cast were fantastic throughout, though I particularly enjoyed the performances of Anna Maxwell Martin, Denis Lawson, and Burn Gorman. The grotesques were truly awful (Smallweed, Krook, Tulkinghorn, Turveydrop) and the other caricatures well drawn, the story strong and easier to follow than Jarndyce v Jarndyce, the music touching. I found my self in tears more than once, not just because of the sad moments in the tale, but because of the sheer excellence of the whole enterprise. I followed up with the same writer's Little Dorrit, which was very good, but didn't quite reach the heights of this magnificent Bleak House.
Production Company:
- British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
- WGBH
- Deep Indigo Productions
- Smallweed Productions
Initial Release Date:Oct 27, 2005
Number of seasons:1 Season
Rating:TV-PG
Awards
Golden Globes, USA
• 2 Nominations
BAFTA Awards
• 5 Wins & 13 Nominations
Online Film & Television Association
• 5 Wins & 11 Nominations
