Don't pay attention to mistaken naysayers who downplay this comic villain masterpiece. After close to four decades, this video adaption remains the yardstick best of four versions of the underrated Dickens classic. If you grew up in the 70s when BBC melodrama dominated PBS, you can appreciate the low key dialog of this histrionic character based treatment. Trevor Peacock's all out portrayal of hunchback dwarf loan shark Daniel Quilp dominates this like no other Dickensian player ever and is so over the top that you can't imagine anyone else doing justice to the role after this. Everything from the voice to the persona to his silhouette matches one's mind's eye of the original. The only flaw is that the ending felt rushed and did not focus well enough on the demise of Quilp, who carries and steals this show and is the funniest bad guy in all of Dickens novels.
Review of The Old Curiosity Shop
