The lowdown: Based on the Charles Dickens novel written in 1865, "Our Mutual Friend" is a saga of love, greed
and betrayal, set in the midst of Britain's class system in the 19th century. Produced in four parts, this 1997 BBC
mini-series features Steven Mackintosh in the role of John Harmon, a young man who is destined to inherit his father's
fortune (which he amassed as a coal dust contractor), but only if he marries a woman whom he has never met. 
However, upon returning to England Harmon is brutally assaulted, and when a body is dragged from the Thames
it is assumed to be him. The fortune then passes to his father's foreman, Noddy Boffin, an uneducated man whose
life is changed profoundly by his new-found wealth. Harmon assumes a new identity and goes to work in the Boffin
household as a secretary, John Rokesmith, where he meets and falls in love with the woman he was meant to marry.

An inter-related storyline features a rich young lawyer, Eugene Wrayburn (played by Paul McGann), and his attempts
to woo the beautiful Lizzie Hexam, the daughter of a man who earned a living fishing bodies from the Thames (which 
doesn't do much for Lizzie's standing in society). Wrayburn offers to hire a tutor to give Lizzie the schooling she did
not receive when she was young, an offer she eventually accepts. Meanwhile, Wrayburn has a rival for her affections,
a schoolteacher named Bradley Headstone (played by David Morrissey), whose passion for Lizzie leads him to brutally
assault Wrayburn and leave him close to death. However, Wrayburn survives and the assault merely serves to drive 
himself and Lizzie closer together. The story has a happy ending for most of the main characters, except for Headstone.

The verdict: The cast is excellent and features many well-known British actors, including Timothy Spall, Pam Ferris
and Peter Vaughan in a brilliant performance as Boffin. "Our Mutual Friend" has superb production values (as one would
expect from the BBC), excellent attention to detail in terms of period dress, and an entertaining story. It is perhaps a bit
too long at 90 minutes per episode, but for fans of Dickens it is must-see viewing, and people who are not Dickens fans 
may just be converted.

Trivia: "Our Mutual Friend" was previously filmed as a mini-series in 1976, and again featured many familar actors, 
including Patrick and David Troughton, Jane Seymour and Leo "Rumpole" McKern as Boffin.


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