Critic Reviews

Great Expectations finds a perfect balance in crafting a faithful adaptation while recognizing the necessity of change. ... Whether this is someone’s first introduction to this piece of bildungsroman or the tenth adaptation they have consumed, they will find joy, sorrow, and beauty in what Steven Knight has constructed.

Dickens’ rich gallery of rogues, rascals and near innocents come ever so deliciously to vibrant life thanks to an impeccable cast.

This energetic remix doesn’t betray the spirit of the original. Dickens’s heavy social conscience, character-driven scenes, and preposterous plotting are all deftly distilled.

The set design is impeccable and the cast is exceptional. ... True representation is tricky and demands much self-interrogation on the part of screenwriters and viewers. Either way, as a thought experiment Great Expectations is certainly worth the pursuit.

Knight’s signature style – swagger and machismo, violence and dirt – is overdone but does make sense for the Magwitch scenes, with Johnny Harris suitably frightening in the role. Young actor Tom Sweet has just the right mix of innocence and inner strength to make a memorable Pip.

Colman is her predictably excellent self; there is a risk she will reduce everything else to filler while viewers await her next mesmerising appearance.

I can see how Knight’s own ostentatious stamp might ruffle the feathers of purists (episode two features a rather unexpected spanking scene). And I question whether it should have been made at all. Even with his surprises, Knight’s Great Expectations can’t escape being a story that we already know inside out. Yet there is an argument that any new Dickens adaptation needs to have a fresh angle. Knight certainly has that. Whether it’s for better or worse is yet to be seen

There are strong showings, including Johnny Harris as desperate convict Magwitch, who accosts Pip on the grey, gloopy marshes, and nicely conjured atmospheres: silvery mists; candle flames tickling the gloom. However, despite the controversy, episode one is somewhat ponderous.

FX’s version remains just another unsuccessful Dickens adaptation at best, and a lackluster period drama at worst. Great Expectations touts a talented cast and a broken and bent version of a classic, that, unfortunately, does not equal a better shape.

He [Steven Knight] shellacs the 160-year-old story with plaque scraped from Havisham’s teeth while never revealing new truths. The result is a conflicted and strained yet stylish and breezy interpretation of Dickens that, to paraphrase Pip, is “good enough.”