The best Charles Dickens adaptations
The top 3 according to 2,456 votes from people: Great Expectations (1946) · Oliver! (1968) · Bleak House (2005). (Updated Jan 3, 2023.)
From David Lean's Great Expectations and Oliver! to Bleak House and The Muppet Christmas Carol: the Dickens films and series picked by Stylist and ranked by whatNerd.
Top 12
-
1
Great Expectations (1946)
David Lean: Pip, Miss Havisham and the convict on the marshes.
-
2
Oliver! (1968)
Carol Reed's musical Oliver Twist; Oscar for best picture.
-
3
Bleak House (2005)
BBC: Gillian Anderson's Lady Dedlock and the endless Jarndyce case.
-
4
The Personal History of David Copperfield (2019)
Armando Iannucci: Dev Patel in a colourful, comic take.
-
5
Oliver Twist (1948)
David Lean, with Alec Guinness as Fagin.
-
6
Scrooge (1951)
Alastair Sim in what is often called the most faithful Christmas Carol.
-
7
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
Michael Caine's Scrooge among the Muppets.
-
8
Scrooged (1988)
Bill Murray as a cynical TV executive visited by three ghosts.
-
9
Little Dorrit (2008)
BBC: Claire Foy as Amy Dorrit, born in a debtors' prison.
-
10
A Tale of Two Cities (1935)
Ronald Colman between London and revolutionary Paris.
-
11
Nicholas Nickleby (2002)
Douglas McGrath: Charlie Hunnam, Anne Hathaway and Christopher Plummer.
-
12
Great Expectations (1998)
Alfonso Cuarón moves the story to modern Florida and New York, with Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow.
Candidates
They don't make it into the top 12… yet. Vote for them to move them up.
-
13
Dickensian (2015)
BBC: Dickens's characters all living in the same London street.
-
14
Martin Chuzzlewit (1994)
BBC miniseries about a family's greed for an inheritance.
How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.
Is something missing?
Comments (5)
Bleak House 2005 is the best thing the BBC ever did with Dickens
no Scrooge 1951 in the top 5? Alastair Sim is THE Scrooge
fair, but Michael Caine's Scrooge is just as good imo
The Muppet Christmas Carol is genuinely one of the most faithful versions, Gonzo as Dickens is genius
David Lean's Great Expectations opening in the graveyard still scares me