BBC backlash as Great Expectations viewers slam 'disrespectful' ending

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BBC backlash as Great Expectations viewers slam
BBC backlash as Great Expectations viewers slam 'disrespectful' ending

Great Expectations concluded on BBC One on Sunday as the reimagining of one of Charles Dickens's most celebrated novels came to an end.

The author's penultimate completed novel depicts the education of an orphan nicknamed Pip but the BBC has come under fire since the series first aired.

Steven Knight's adaptation of the classic literary piece differs greatly from the original and lost 2million viewers since the first episode last month.

The ending of the BBC One drama, starring Olivia Colman as Miss Havisham and Fionn Whitehead as Pip, also differed from the original.

In the Dickens classic, Miss Havisham's wedding dress is set alight in a tragic accident or, it can be argued, as an act of self-immolation which leads to her death but in the adaptation Coleman sets the dress alight on purpose as part of a revenge twist before emerged unscathed.

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BBC backlash as Great Expectations viewers slam 'disrespectful' endingBBC viewers slammed Great Expectations' ending (BBC/FX Networks/Pari Dukovic)

“I am stronger than you. I am stronger than this house. I am stronger than fire,” said Miss Havisham.

This was just one of the big changes from the classic Dickens work.

Criticising the end, one viewer tweeted: "Stuck with #GreatExpectations to the end. God knows why. It’s absolutely incredible how they f**ked it up so badly. Terrible. One remake too far."

"#GreatExpectations disposed of the most ironic scene and replaced it with a gunfight. If you can't imagine something better, or at least as good, then respect what works," another fumed.

BBC backlash as Great Expectations viewers slam 'disrespectful' endingThe adaptation's ending differed from the Dickens classic (BBC/FX Networks/Miya Mizuno)

Someone else said: "Speechless at the end of #GreatExpectations . What a load of cobblers. Ending totally rewritten, never mind the rest of it," while another added: "It was more like Great Disappointment rather than #GreatExpectations @BBCOne, seriously????"

However, one viewer disagreed: "Like many people, I'm very familiar with the #GreatExpectations story yet I liked the latest adaptation. Which is why I watched it all. I get that it wasn't for everyone, but why watch if you hated it? Weird."

Another added: "The best way to view the latest #GreatExpectations series I think is as a re-interpretation of the Dickens novel rather than as an adaptation of it. It was interesting to see how the series explored the darker side of Victorian working & middle-class life in more depth."

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Charlotte McIntyre

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