Classics Revisited: 1994's 'Middlemarch' Stands The Test of Time

Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life, by George Eliot was published first as a serial and then in book form in 1872. Fortunately, two centuries and change later, in 1994, Andrew Davies (best known for his Jane Austen adaptations, including Season 1 of Sanditon, and 1995's Pride & Prejudice) was around to achieve the daunting task of adapting Middlemarch as a series for the BBC, featuring an accomplished cast, with direction by Anthony Page, and the superb costume designs of Anushia Nieradzik (Belle).

Miss Brooke ... was usually spoken of as being remarkably clever, but with the addition that her sister Celia had more common-sense.

Filmed in Stamford, Lincolnshire, and at several historic locations, and with a sequence in Rome, the series has a depth and thoughtfulness that pay tribute to Eliot and her masterpiece. We enter deeply into the lives of families throughout the social spectrum, as Eliot portrays the town of Middlemarch as a microcosm of an England on the brink of change. If ever a series was crying out for restoration, this is it –– the color is faded, and although the main musical theme is splendid, there’s a bit too much of it resurrected as incidental music. As for the acting, there isn’t a weak link, with some (then) newcomers as well as respected names from the past.