Dickens on the BBC

Free Your Imagination: Books on the BBC culminates with a celebration of the work of one of Britain's greatest writers, Charles Dickens. Dickens on the BBC is a season of documentary, drama and discussion programmes across television and radio, heralding the 2012 bicentenary celebrations of the writer's birth.

1. Book of the Week - Charles Dickens: A Life

   Monday 28 November 2011 BBC Radio 4

   1/5 Claire Tomalin's acclaimed new biography of Britain's great novelist paints a portrait of an extraordinarily complex man.
   

2. The Verb

   Friday 9 December BBC Radio 3

   Ian McMillan hosts a special edition at the BBC's Radio Theatre to celebrate the art of reading Dickens aloud.

3. Songs of Praise: A Dickensian Christmas

   Sunday 11 December BBC One

   Traditional carols will be sung by the congregation at St George's Church in Gravesend, dressed in Victorian costumes.

4. Night Waves

   Wednesday 14 December BBC Radio 3

   Philip Dodd presents a landmark edition devoted to Charles Dickens as the bicentenary of his birth approaches.

5. The Bleak Old Shop Of Stuff

   Monday 19 December BBC Two

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   1/4 A new comedy adventure with an all-star cast set in the Dickensian world of Jedrington Secret-Past.

6. The Essay - The Writers' Dickens

   Monday 19 December BBC Radio 3

   1/5 Tessa Hadley, A L Kennedy, Alexander McCall Smith, Romesh Gunesekera and Justin Cartwright examine Dickens' prose.

7. A Tale of Two Cities

   Monday 26 December BBC Radio 4

   1/5 Robert Lindsay and Alison Steadman star in a new dramatisation of Charles Dickens' classic.

8. Great Expectations

   Tuesday 27 December BBC One

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   1/3 Sarah Phelps's suspenseful three-part drama presents the heart and grit of Charles Dickens at his very best.
   

9. The Tale of A Tale of Two Cities

   Thursday 29 December BBC Radio 4

   Crime writer Frances Fyfield examines the original manuscript to understand Dickens' frantic writing and self-editing.

10. Mrs Dickens' Family Christmas

    Wednesday 30 December BBC Two

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    Sue Perkins exposes the lesser known reality of the Dickens family Christmas, through the eyes of his wife, Catherine.

11. The Mumbai Chuzzlewits

    Sunday 1 January 2012 BBC Radio 4

    1/3 Ayeesha Menon's rework of Martin Chuzzlewit is set among the Catholic community in modern day Mumbai.

12. Armando's Tale of Charles Dickens

    Monday 2 January BBC Two

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    Using David Copperfield as a focal point, Armando explores the development of this master storyteller.

13. The Mystery of Edwin Drood

    Tuesday 10 January BBC Two

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    1/2 An ambitious two-part adaptation sees writer Gwyneth Hughes finishing Dickens' final novel Edwin Drood.

14. Arena: Dickens on Film

    Tuesday 10 January BBC Four

    Arena asks why Dickens' have novels inspired so many screen adaptations, from the films of the silent era to the modern day.

15. Unfinished

    Thursday 12 January BBC Two

    Alastair Sooke investigates the mystery behind Edwin Drood and what it is that makes the unfinished story so tantalising.

16. The Mystery of the Mystery of Edwin Drood

    Thursday 19 January BBC Radio 4

    Frances Fyfield tries to answer some of the many questions about the last days of Dickens' life.

17. Dickens in London

    Monday 6 February BBC Radio 4

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    1/5 Five short plays based on Dickens' journalism tell the story of his changing relationship with the city that fired his imagination.