The George Eliot Collection

George Eliot's beautifully astute literary works come to life in five critically acclaimed BBC productions: Adam Bede, Silas Marner, The Mill on the Floss, Middlemarch and Daniel Deronda. Travel to the Victorian countryside where passion and betrayal run beneath the tranquil surface of the divided classes. These films?some available for the first time on DVD?feature all-star casts including such luminaries as Ben Kingsley (Gandhi, Schindler's List), Jenny Agutter (Logan's Run, The Railway Children), Patsy Kensit (Lethal Weapon 2), Juliet Aubrey (The Constant Gardener), Hugh Bonneville (Notting Hill, Mansfield Park), Judy Cornwell (Keeping Up Appearances) and many more. Extras include the 40-minute Middlemarch: A Reader's Guide and George Eliot: A Scandalous Life, in which letters, diaries and newspapers help paint an intimate portrait of an exceptional woman who overcame social isolation and rejection to become one of our greatest writers.

Adam Bede
Adam Bede is a hard-working carpenter, with his heart set on marrying his sweetheart, pretty dairymaid Hetty Sorrel. Unfortunately, Hetty's affections are captured by the local squire, Arthur Donnithorne; that is, until Bede intervenes. But it's too late ñ Hetty finds herself pregnant by the unruly landowner. Destitute and exhausted, she gives birth to the child, and, overcome by despair, abandons it. In a horrendous turn of events, she finds herself accused of the baby's murder and the sentence for which is the death penalty. Beneath the tranquil surface of George Eliot's tale, passions run deep and the bitter gall of betrayal is all too prevalent...

Silas Marner
Falsely accused of theft by the friend who stole his fiancé, linen-weaver Silas Marner is driven from his religious community.Taking refuge in the distant village of Raveloe, he becomes a recluse, shunning human contact and instead amassing a huge pile of gold which he lovingly counts every night.

Enter Dunstan Cass, the dissolute younger son of the local squire. Deep in debt, he steals the gold and disappears. Once more Silas is left bereft.

Then one night he comes home to a warm and vital replacement for his lost gold – a baby girl asleep on the hearth. Silas adopts her, christens her Eppie after his mother, and rears the girl with enormous tenderness and love.

But even this newfound happiness comes under threat. Eppie’s real father, Godfrey Cass, wants to reclaim her. Is Silas to lose everything again?

The Mill on the Floss
Tom and Maggie Tulliver are the children of the honest but obstinate owner of Dorlcote Mill on the Floss. Tom is a prosaic youth, lacking in imagination and sensibility. Maggie is clever, a lover of books and music whose looks match her intelligence.

She finds a kindred spirit in Philip Wakem, the deformed son of a lawyer who lives nearby. But legal dealings have caused trouble between Mr Tulliver and Mr Wakem.The miller’s hatred of Mr Wakem is so bitter that it brings him to a stroke and eventually to his death.Tom, who echoes his father in everything, is incensed when he discovers that Maggie and Philip have been meeting in secret. He insists upon her ending the relationship.

Maggie pays a visit to St Oggs to see her cousin Lucy Deane.There she meets Stephen Guest, Lucy’s fiancé. Although loyal to his betrothed, this urbane, cultivated young man is attracted by Maggie’s beauty and she finds herself drawn to him. A boating expedition leads to Maggie being compromised, although in fact she is completely innocent. She is turned out of the house by Tom and ostracised by St Oggs society.

Then a great flood comes to the district. Maggie, in a small boat rescues Tom from the mill. He now realises her true worth and his own failings. Brother and sister are reconciled at last. But the boat is overwhelmed and both are drowned.

Drama, romance, tragedy, humour – Maggie’s relations are often very funny – all have a place in this most popular of George Eliot’s novels.

Middlemarch
Middlemarch is a story of provincial life on the brink of momentous change: the Industrial Revolution will split the town into two opposing factions, the conservatives and the progressives. It is also a deeply moving saga of a group of people striving to give meaning and value to their lives:

Dorothea, an innocent idealist who misguidedly marries the ageing scholar Casaubon, who proves to be a jealous and impotent failure .

Will Ladislaw, a restless artist who falls passionately in love with Dorothea and unexpectedly gets caught up in the Political Reform Movement. Tertius Lydgate, an ambitious young doctor thwarted by political intrigue and the endless demands of his pretty, shallow wife.

Fred Vincy, son of the Mayor, in love with Mary Garth, his social inferior. Nicholas Bulstrode, the banker with fanatical religious beliefs and a secret to hide.

Daniel Deronda
Set in the 1860s, Daniel Deronda is a passionate, intense love story which takes both hero and heroine, Daniel Deronda and Gwendolen Harleth, on a journey of eventual self-fulfillment.

Gwendolen Harleth falls in love with the idealistic Daniel Deronda when she first sees him at the roulette table.They couldn’t be more different. Gwendolen is a spoiled child, outwardly alluring and vivacious, selfishly determined to get what she wants out of life. Daniel is sensitive, caring, highly intelligent but an illegitimate son who is haunted by doubts about his own identity. He is drawn to Gwendolen as he senses the vulnerability and despair that lurk behind the brilliant façade.

Adam Bede

Adam Bede	---	Iain Glen
Hetty Sorrel	---	Patsy Kensit
Dinah Morris	---	Susannah Harker
Arthur Donnithorne	---	James Wilby
Mrs. Poyser	---	Julia McKenzie
Reverend Irwine	---	Robert Stephens
Lisbeth Bede	---	Jean Marsh
Old Squire	---	Freddie Jones
Court Official	---	Michael Percival
Martin Poyser	---	Paul Brooke
Totty Poyser	---	Paul Brooke
Tommy Poyser	---	Chase Marks
Marty Poyser	---	William Holmes

Silas Marner

Silas Marner	---	Ben Kingsley
Nancy Lammeter	---	Jenny Agutter
Godfrey Cass	---	Patrick Ryecart
Squire Cass	---	Freddie Jones
Dunstan Cass	---	Jonathan Coy
Eppie	---	Patsy Kensit
Baby Eppie	---	Elizabeth Hoyle
Little Eppie	---	Melida Whiting
Molly	---	Angela Pleasence
Dolly Winthrop	---	Rosemary Martin
Ben Winthrop	---	Robert Putt
Jem Rodney	---	Jim Broadbent
Mr. Snell	---	Tony Caunter
Mr. Macey	---	Michael Bilton
Bob Dowlas	---	Nick Brimble

The Mill on the Floss

Tom Tulliver	---	Christopher Blake
Bessy Tulliver	---	Judy Cornwell
Lucy Deane	---	Mona Durbridge
Maggie Tulliver	---	Pippa Guard
Philip Wakem	---	Anton Lesser
Stephen Guest	---	John Moulder-Brown
Tom Tulliver	---	Jonathan Scott-Taylor
Maggie Tulliver	---	Georgia Slowe
Mr. Tulliver	---	Ray Smith
Uncle Deane	---	John Stratton

Middlemarch

Dorothea Brooke	---	Juliet Aubrey
Rev. Edward Casaubon	---	Patrick Malahide
Dr. Tertius Lydgate	---	Douglas Hodge
Rosamond Vincy	---	Trevyn McDowell
Arthur Brooke	---	Robert Hardy
Will Ladislaw	---	Rufus Sewell
Bulstrode	---	Peter Jeffrey
Celia Brooke	---	Caroline Harker
Caleb Garth	---	Clive Russell
Fred Vincy	---	Jonathan Firth
Mary Garth	---	Rachel Power

Daniel Deronda

Daniel Deronda	---	Hugh Dancy
Gwendolen Harleth	---	Romola Garai
Henleigh Grandcourt	---	Hugh Bonneville
Mirah Lapidoth	---	Jodhi May
Sir Hugo Mallinger	---	Edward Fox
Lydia Glasher	---	Greta Scacchi
The Contessa	---	Barbara Hershey
Mrs Davilow	---	Amanda Root
Mrs Meyrick	---	Celia Imrie
Klesmer	---	Allan Corduner
Mordecai	---	Daniel Evans
Lush	---	David Bamber
Hans Meyrick	---	Jamie Bamber
Rev Gascoigne	---	Michael Attwell
Ezra Cohen	---	Simon Schatzberger
Rex Gascoigne	---	Jordan Frieda
Lady Pentreath	---	Jane How
Catherine Arrowpoint	---	Anna Steel

“Take this engrossing rural classic by George Eliot, add fine costumes and lavish photography and the result is a gripping romantic tragedy that doesn’t let up for a moment.”- Daily Mail

“Elegant detail was part of the power of director Giles Foster’s fine adaptation of Adam Bede. The hay fields and the horses glistened in careful composition like a Stubb’s landscape.” - Independent on Sunday

“Magnificent.”- Mail on Sunday

“As the child reawakens the old man’s faith in life, so this production rekindles a disillusioned old grump’s belief in the salutary powers of television.” - Washington Post

“The production beautifully captures the feel of a small village in the early 19th Century. And the fine cast lends wonderful support to Mr Kingsley’s intense and affecting portrait of a quiet, self-effacing man.” - NewYork Times

“Richly designed, handsomely acted... a masterful achievement.” - Variety

"Andrew Davies’s adaptation is another object lesson in how to turn a classic novel into compelling TV drama with a fresh, contemporary feel. Handsome, fast-moving and crisply edited, it is driven by some superb performances, notably from Hugh Bonneville... By the end of part one, you’ll be hooked."- Daily Mail
 

“...outstanding in every respect." - Daily Telegraph

"This is going to win all the prizes going. Don’t miss it."- Daily Mail

"Outstanding in every respect."- Daily Telegraph

George Eliot (November 22, 1819 - December 22, 1880) was born Mary Anne Evans. A contemporary of the Bront? sisters, she also disguised her real name to get her work published. Unlike the Bront?s, Mary Anne lived a full and rewarding life. George was her lover's Christian name.