Dickens

Dickens’s novel is crammed with a huge cast of characters and types.
Nearly fifty actors take part in the television serial, a real cross-section
of the profession, from experienced elder statesmen and women of the
stage to bright young neophytes.
Lizzie Hexam
Lizzie Hexam, ‘a dark girl of nineteen or twenty’, is a stunningly
beautiful young woman, but comes from the very lowest rung
ofthe social ladder. Bella says of her: ‘There is a shade of sadness
upon her that is quite touching’.
Lizzie longs to escape her Thames-side home, but her
duty to her father keeps her in Limehouse until his death.
When Eugene Wrayburn accidentally comes into contact with
her, he is immediately smitten by love, though his intentions
towards her are unclear even to himself. Knowing full wellthat, for such as her, a liaison with a gentleman like Eugene is
out of the question, she is torn apart by her love for him and
her fear of Bradley Headstone.
Keeley Hawes
Keeley Hawes, who stars as Lizzie Hexam, believes the
Dickens story has a message for today. ‘The relationships
between the characters and their problems are very
contemporary,’ says Keeley. ‘A story like this makes yourealise that people don’t change that much.’
Keeley’s character is an illiterate working-class girl
struggling to survive in the harsh world of Victorian London.
She finds herself caught in a love triangle between Eugene
Wrayburn (Paul McGann) and Bradley Headstone (David
Morrissey).
Keeley, 22, says she was drawn to the strength of the
character and the timeless message of Dickens’s novel.‘It has
all the elements of a modern soap, like Eastenders, except it’s a
period piece. But I don’t think costume drama has a stuffy
image any more. Having stars like Anna Friel and Paul McGann helps. They’re younger
and trendier, more fanciable.’
As part of her role as the daughter of a Thames boatman, Keeley had to learn to
row and spent punishing long hours filming on the river. ‘It wasn’tlike working nine to
five in an office,’ Keeley says. ‘We all complain about what hard work it is, but it’s great
fun really. We were sliding around in the mud, laughing.’
Keeley is eager to point out, however, that she has little in common with her screen
character: ‘I can’t associate myself with her because I’m not an angel,’ she says.
Keeley, a former model and daughter of a London taxidriver, found fame when
she starred in Dennis Potter’s Karaoke with Richard E Grant. She has played in major BBC
dramas including The Moonstone and The Beggar Bride. Keeley appears with Sean
Connery and Ralph Feinnes in the movie version of the TV series The Avengers.
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Mike Williams is a show-business writer and interviewerRogue Riderhood
Roger, known as ‘Rogue’, Riderhood is one of Dickens’sgreat
villains. Describing himself as a ‘waterside character’, who
‘gains an honest living with the sweat of his brow’ he is in fact an
evil opportunist who survives by scavenging from the river or
by grabbing any other chance that comes his way. Before the
novel opens, he has been in prison for stealing from a sailor. In
the end, it is he who drives Bradley Headstone to his final fate.David Bradley
David Bradley is Rogue Riderhood, Our Mutual Friend’s
ultimate low-life villain. ‘When I first read the script I could
see that Rogue was irredeemable,’ David says, ‘because the
only way he knew to survive was by villainy. He has a
criminal record, he is banned from all the pubs and he spends
his life fishing bodies out of the Thames and going through
their pockets. You start towonder how many of them he put
there.’
After a near death experience Rogue Riderhood
reviews his life. ‘But he is not redeemed even then,’ says
David. ‘He just becomes more focused—as a blackmailer.’
David adds: ‘The wonderful thing for me as an actor
getting into character is that you have the book as well as the
script. All the clues to the character are there—with Shakespeare, you...