David Copperfield (DVD)

Beautiful Irish locations (a closer match for early 19th-century England than anywhere in present-day Britain) and a star-studded cast enhance this three-hour TV version of Charles Dickens' immortal classic. Most supporting roles are played by distinguished British character actors (Anthony Andrews, Eileen Atkins, Paul Bettany, Judy Cornwell, Nigel Davenport, Edward Hardwicke, Alan Howard, Freddie Jones, Alec McCowen, Dudley Sutton, Peter Woodthorpe), with Sally Field and Michael Richards guest-starring as Betsy Trotwood and Wilkins Micawber. Though the latter is eye-catchingly played as a pratfall-prone Victorian ancestor of Kramer from Seinfeld (Richards' best-known role), the real scene-stealer is Frank McCusker (The Tudors) as the unctuously 'umble yet wickedly devious Uriah Heep. Hugh Dancy and Max Dolbey play David Copperfield himself at different stages of his life, in an adaptation that takes a greater interest than usual in demonstrating how David's famously traumatic childhood would end up shaping his adult personality.