‘Why do we sex up period dramas?’ Nick Knowles slams ‘car crash’ BBC adaptation of Great Expectations saying it’s ‘unnecessarily salacious’
Nick Knowles slammed the new BBC adaptation of Great Expectations saying it’s ‘unnecessarily salacious’ and a ‘car crash’.
The DIY SOS star, 60, questioned ‘why we sex up period dramas’ as he launched a furious rant on Monday.
Venting his thoughts to Twitter, revealed that he ended up ‘turning off’ the series that ‘failed to live up to its name.’
Nick’s critique of Great Expectations comes after the Dickens Fellowship blasted a scene which sees bare-bottomed Mr Pumblechook spanked over a bed by housewife-turned-dominatrix Mrs Gargery.
Written by Peaky Blinders creator Stephen Knight, the series stars Fionn Whitehead as Pip and Olivia Colman as Miss Havisham.
Furious: Nick Knowles, 60, slammed the new BBC adaptation of Great Expectations saying it’s ‘unnecessarily salacious’ and a ‘car crash’ on Monday
Screen: Written by Peaky Blinders creator Stephen Knight, the series stars Fionn Whitehead as Pip and Olivia Colman as Miss Havisham (pictured)
Nick wrote: ‘Can anyone explain to me why BBC production of Great Expectations has recast uncle Pumblechook as a masochist & Mrs Joe as a dominatrix running a torture service?
‘Beautifully shot & directed drama but it’s like the writers of TOWIE version of Dickens Feels unnecessarily salacious.
‘I loved Taboo and Peaky Blinders so I’m baffled why Great Expectations is such salacious tripe? Why do we have to sex up all period dramas now?
‘I’m watching it into episode 2 like a slow moving car crash.’
He concluded: ‘That’s it – got as far as the Miss Havisham and Estella opium crack den scene and called it a day Sadly Great Expectations failed to live up to its name Perhaps Feeble Liberties might be a better name for this adaptation.’
His comments come after viewers of BBC1’s Great Expectations were left shocked as a bare-bottomed Mr Pumblechook was spanked over a bed by housewife-turned-dominatrix Mrs Gargery.
And the ‘gratuitous’ scene was blasted by the Dickens Fellowship, which said there is ‘no hint of sexual deviancy’ about the character.
Screenwriter Steven has sexed up the tale in a nod to topics he feels the author hinted at, but couldn’t explore in 19th century Britain.
Rant: Venting his thoughts to Twitter, revealed that he ended up ‘turning off’ the series that ‘failed to live up to its name’
Shocking: Nick’s critique of Great Expectations comes after the Dickens Fellowship blasted a scene which sees bare-bottomed Mr Pumblechook spanked by dominatrix Mrs Gargery
‘Come upstairs now,’ beckoned Mrs Gargery, played by Hayley Squires, as she removed her wedding ring, grabbed a whip and asked: ‘Are you ready?’
‘You know what’s coming don’t you? Turn around,’ she said before proceeding to strike a naked Matt Berry, who plays Pumblechook, ten times as he was bent over her bed.
Explaining the decision to embellish the story, Knight said he tried to ‘imagine if Dickens was writing the story now and had the freedom to go to those darker places’ and asked: ‘What would he do?’
But last night the Dickens Fellowship, a global association of people who share an interest in the classic author’s life and works, accused Knight of being ‘disingenuous’.
Honorary general secretary Paul Graham claimed Knight simply embellished the tale to ‘generate viewership’, adding that Knight’s explanation was ‘slightly ridiculous’.
He said: ‘How can he put himself in Dickens’ place and say what he would have done? I think the scenes would appear just gratuitous. I don’t know if Dickens would have put in a spanking scene!… Pumblechook is essentially a comic character with no hint of sexual deviancy…’
Sunday night’s episode also saw Miss Havisham setting up a grown-up Pip, played by Fionn Whitehead, to lose his virginity on his 18th birthday.
The jilted spinster, played by Olivia Colman, tells him: ‘On this the occasion of your 18th birthday… you must be proficient in all things. Horse riding, dancing, boxing, and sex.’
She then presents him to Mrs Gibbons, from the local congregation, and says: ‘Feel free to behave any way you wish with Mrs Gibbons… have fun.’
Knight has also added ‘opium addict’ to Miss Havisham’s repertoire, with the character seen frequently inhaling from a pipe.
Thoughts: The ‘gratuitous’ scene was blasted by the Dickens Fellowship, which said there is ‘no hint of sexual deviancy’ about the character Pumblechook (pictured)
Mr Graham said there is ‘no evidence in the text itself that she smoked opium’, adding that laudanum would have been a more likely addiction for her class at the time.
‘Making her into an opium addict is going one step further than he needed to go if he wanted to show she was addicted to something,’ he said. ‘Dickens could have included that but he didn’t. Clearly this is a radical interpretation.’
Knight, who previously adapted A Christmas Carol for the BBC, has expressed interest in tackling A Tale of Two Cities next. But Mr Graham blasted: ‘Leave him [Dickens] alone! He’s doing the entire canon… if you try to mess around with the classics you’ll be very lucky if you improve it.’
Great Expectations, written in 1860, follows orphan Pip, who is taken on as a companion for Miss Havisham and her adopted daughter Estella (played by Shalom Brune-Franklin) before moving to London after he comes into money from a mysterious benefactor.
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