The Mystery of Edwin Drood (TV film)
| The Mystery of Edwin Drood | |
|---|---|
US DVD cover
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| Based on |
The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens |
| Screenplay by | Gwyneth Hughes |
| Directed by | Diarmuid Lawrence |
| Starring |
Matthew Rhys Rory Kinnear |
| Theme music composer | John Lunn |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Lisa Osborne |
| Cinematography | Alan Almond |
| Editor(s) | David Head |
| Running time | 120 minutes or 2 x 60 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC2 |
| Original release |
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The Mystery of Edwin Drood is a 2012 British television adaptation of the unfinished novel by Charles Dickens, adapted with a new ending by Gwyneth Hughes, produced by Lisa Osborne, and directed by Diarmuid Lawrence. It was aired in the United Kingdom on BBC2 as two one-hour parts on 10 and 11 January 2012, in the United States as a single two-hour film on PBS on 15 April 2012, and in Australia on ABC1 on 2 January 2013.
In credits order.
The film begins with John Jasper, choirmaster of Cloisterham Cathedral, in an opium den, hallucinating about strangling his nephew, Edwin Drood, in full view of his fiancée, Rosa Bud. Edwin Drood later visits Cloisterham, initially to see Rosa, before going off to his uncle's house. His arrival at the Nuns' House, the boarding school where Rosa lives, is met with much excitement by the other occupants, while Rosa appears indifferent at best. It is soon apparent that theirs is an odd relationship and Rosa shows little passion for it, something Edwin communicates to his uncle after the visit. In the same scene, the attraction Jasper seems to have for Rosa, as indicated in his earlier hallucination, is buttressed by a drawing of her enjoying pride of place on his wall, which Edwin believes he has kept because he (Edwin) was the artist.
A second arrival to Cloisterham follows Edwin's, as Neville Landless and his twin sister Helena arrive from Ceylon, Neville to study with one of the minor canons, Reverend Crisparkle, and Helena will live at the Nuns' House with Rosa. Failing to engage them in conversation, Reverend Crisparkle and his mother invite Edwin and Rosa to meet them. While Jasper plays on the piano and Rosa sings along, his desire for her becomes more obvious, and is immediately noticed by Helena. At the same event, Neville becomes attracted to Rosa and takes an immediate dislike to Edwin, and Helena and Rosa strike up a friendship, after the singing exercise leaves the latter unsettled. Back at the Nuns' House, Helena makes her suspicions known to Rosa, who confides to her that she loathes and fears her music-master, Jasper.
Neville and Edwin, meanwhile, have a brief scrap, and Edwin later provokes him into reacting violently, which Jasper reports to others, giving birth to Neville's reputation of having a violent temper. Meanwhile, having an interest in the cathedral crypt, Jasper seeks the company of Durdles, a man who knows more about the crypt than anyone else. Durdles takes Jasper into the cathedral crypt. Jasper provides a bottle of wine to Durdles. The wine is mysteriously potent and Durdles soon loses consciousness.
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