Nicholas Nickleby

1 9 5 7 (UK)
10 x 30 minute episodes

The BBC brought the great novel by Charles Dickens to television as a 10-part Friday night serial which set its tone – the struggle between Nicholas (William Russell) and his Uncle Ralph (70-year-old Malcolm Keen) – within the first few minutes of the first episode. It was a struggle fought out with increasing intensity as the plot unfolded, and reached a climax of terrible power.

These two violent personalities dominated the story and, although Nicholas was the hero, he was by no means perfect.

He had a violent temper, a great inclination to use his fists, and was often extremely stupid. Yet the fact that he had such obvious faults made him the more credible as a character and the more endearing as a personality.

By the same token, Uncle Ralph was not a complete dragon. He had an unsuspected softer side to his nature, which Nicholas’s sister Kate (Jennifer Wilson) touched upon.

Moreover, he was an honest villain. He hated the world but was more than ready to take on the whole of it in battle.

Drawn up behind these two enemies were battalions of rich characters: villains like Arthur Gride (Anthony Jacobs) and Wackford Squeers (Esmond Knight, pictured above); tragic ones like Smike (Brian Peck, pictured below); fantastically funny ones like the Mantalinis (Fabia Drake and Carl Bernard) and the mad “gentleman in small clothes” who lived next door to Mrs Nickleby (Gillian Lind) and wooed her by hurling cucumbers over the garden wall.

Veteran comedian Leslie Henson was to have played the “gentleman in small clothes” in episode 8 but died of a heart attack on Monday 2 December, four days before the episode was due to be broadcast. He was 66. Future Till Death Us Do Part star Warren Mitchell was brought in at extremely short notice to play the part instead.

Richard Wordsworth’s portrayal of Newman Noggs was outstanding, and a young Rosalind Knight appeared playing Fanny Squeers, the daughter of Wackford Squeers, played by her real-life father, Esmond.

Debuting on Friday 18 October 1957, the series reproduced the costumes and the setting of the period perfectly and the whole series was beautifully produced.

A camera fault interrupted the concluding episode but the serial was brought to a satisfactory end with the downfall of the villainous Ralph.

Nicholas Nickleby
William Russell
Kate Nickleby
Jennifer Wilson
Ralph Nickleby
Malcolm Keen
Newman Noggs
Richard Wordsworth
Mrs Nickleby
Gillian Lind
Smike
Brian Peck
Wackford Squeers Sr.
Esmond Knight
Wackford Squeers Jr.
Keith Davis
Miss La Creevy
Rosamund Greenwood
Mr Charles Cheery
George Howe
Frank Cheeryble
Barry Foster
Arthur Gride
Anthony Jacobs
Madeline Bray
Lyn James
Tim Linkinwater
Bartlett Mullins
Sir Mulberry Hawk
Douglas Wilmer
Mr Pyke
Graham Crowden
Madame Mantalini
Fabia Drake
Mr Alfred Mantalini
Carl Bernard
Mr Ned Cheeryble
Roddy Hughes
Lord Frederick Verisopht
Jack May
Mr Pluck
Victor Platt
Matilda Price
Sheila Ballantine
Walter Bray
Maurice Colbourne
Mrs Squeers
Fay Compton
Miss Fanny Squeers
Rosalind Knight
Mr Snawley
Roy Hepworth
John Browdie
Brian Rawlinson
Peg Sliderskew
Ada Reeve
Hannah
Greta Wood