In the cozy world of Sunday night television, a bit of naked bondage may very well have left you sputtering all over your Horlicks – especially while watching a Dickens adaptation.
That’s what viewers of BBC1’s Great Expectations greeted last night when Mr Pumblechook was bare bottomed over a bed by housewife turned dominatrix Mrs Gargery.
And the “unnecessary” scene was quashed by the Dickens Fellowship, who said there is “not a trace of sexual deviance” about the character.
Screenwriter Steven Knight – famous for Peaky Blinders – has sexed the story with a nod to topics he thinks the author alluded to but was unable to research in 19th-century Britain.
“Come up now,” Mrs. Gargery, played by Hayley Squires, beckoned, taking off her wedding ring, grabbing a whip, and asking, “Are you ready?”
Last night Mr Pumblechook was bare bottomed over a bed by housewife turned dominatrix Mrs Gargery
The ‘unnecessary’ scene was quashed by the Dickens Fellowship, who said there is ‘no trace of sexual deviance’ about the Pumblechook character (pictured)
‘You know what’s coming, don’t you? Turn around,” she said before punching a naked Matt Berry, who plays Pumblechook, ten times as he hunched over her bed.
Explaining the decision to embellish the story, Knight said he was trying to imagine “that Dickens was now writing the story and having the freedom to go to those dark places” and asked, “What would he do?” ‘
But last night, the Dickens Fellowship, a worldwide association of people interested in the life and work of the classic author, accused Knight of being “insincere.”
Honorary general secretary Paul Graham claimed that Knight was simply embellishing the story to “generate viewers,” adding that Knight’s explanation was “slightly preposterous.” He said, ‘How can he put himself in Dickens’ shoes and say what he would have done? I think the scenes just seem unnecessary. I don’t know if Dickens would have put in a spanking scene!…Pumblechook is basically a comical character with no hint of sexual deviance…’
Last night’s episode also saw Miss Havisham set up an adult Pip, played by Fionn Whitehead, to lose his virginity on his 18th birthday.
The spurned spinster, played by Olivia Colman, tells him, “On the occasion of your 18th birthday…you must be proficient in all things.” Horse riding, dancing, boxing and sex.’ She then introduces him to Mrs. Gibbons, from the local congregation, and says, “Behave as you please with Mrs. Gibbons…have fun.”
Knight has also added “opium addict” to Miss Havisham’s repertoire, with the character regularly seen smoking a pipe.
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.
Great Expectations follows the orphaned Pip (played by Fionn Whitehead – right), who is taken on as a companion for Miss Havisham and her adopted daughter Estella (played by Shalom Brune-Franklin – left)
“Making her an opium addict goes a step further than it took to show she was addicted to something,” he said. Dickens could have included that, but he didn’t. This is clearly 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 roared, ‘Let him [Dickens] only! He does the whole canon… if you try to mess with the classics, you’ll be very lucky if you improve upon it.’
Written in 1860, Great Expectations 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 receiving money from a mysterious benefactor.
Knight’s retelling has also sparked anger at the profanity and references to the British Empire’s slave trade connections.
Mr. Graham said, “If it entertains people, that’s fair enough, but it’s a distorted version of what Dickens wrote.”
Last week’s first episode got just one star from the Mail, with Christopher Stevens saying the classic story has been “ground up into Woke Desecrations.”
Great Expectations continues next Sunday at 9 p.m.