Martin Chuzzlewit has never been regarded as one of the easiest of Charles Dickens’s novels. It is discursive, and its plot is remarkably convoluted even by Dickens standards.
But it gains greatness because it contains some of the author’s best-observed and most lively characterisations, notably the arch-hypocrite Pecksniff, whose name has become a common noun; the cheerfully bibulous Cockney lady Sarah Gamp (played in this series by Angela Baddeley), and the unsinkable optimist Mark Tapley (Tom Watson).
It is a story about greed, and it tells of the Chuzzlewit family whose besetting sin this is. Only young Martin (Gary Raymond) manages to rid himself of the family taint. In doing so, he becomes a victim of his kinsmen’s greed – passing through tribulations as dire as any suffered by a Dickens hero – before he reaches the happiness of prosperity and requited love.
Young Martin is evicted from the home of his rich but miserly grandfather, Martin Chuzzlewit the elder (Barry Jones), because of the young man’s affection for his sweet-souled orphaned foster sister Mary Graham (Ilona Rodgers).
Stripped of all his expectations of enjoying, in time, the considerable Chuzzlewit fortune, Martin becomes an indentured pupil in the office of Mr Pecksniff (Richard Pearson) – a supposed architect who never seems actually to construct anything except elaborate schemes for the despoilment of his fellow men.
The Pecksniff daughters, Charity (Rosalind Knight) and Mercy (Anna Middleton) are the unworthy objects of their father’s only genuine affection. Tom Pinch (John Quentin) is the willing drudge in the office who seems incapable of seeing through his employer’s facade of moral rectitude.
The story is set mainly in early 19th Century England, but for a time, the action moves to America, whither Martin goes to seek his fortune. Dickens had earlier visited the emerging United States and, not liking what he saw there, decided to record his disappointment in this novel.
Consequently, his depiction of the American frontier as a wasteland supporting a rabble of deceitful and grasping boors is as gross and unfair a caricature as he ever produced.
The 13-part series was dramatised by Constance Cox and directed throughout by Joan Craft, with Campbell Logan producing.
Martin Chuzzlewit
Gary Raymond Pecksniff
Richard Pearson Martin Chuzzlewit the Elder
Barry Jones Jonas Chuzzlewit
Alex Scott Tom Pinch
John Quentin Ruth Pinch
Fern Warner Mark Tapley
Tom Watson Mercy Pecksniff
Anna Middleton Charity Pecksniff
Rosalind Knight Mary Graham
Ilona Rodgers Montague Tigg
Peter Bayliss John Westlock
Jeremy Burnham Mrs Sarah Gamp
Angela Baddeley Chuffey
Harold Scott Nadgett
Blake Butler Antony Chuzzlewit
Carl Bernard Lewsome
John Golightly Mrs Lupin
Barbara Ogilvie Bailey
Peter Craze Mrs Todgers
Barbara Cavan Jane
Deborah Millington Mrs Prig
Kathleen Harrison Mr Jinkins
Peter Stephens Mr Moddle
Pearson Dodd Chevy Slyme
Michael Bilton Dr Jobling
John Bryans Mr Gander
Clifford Parrish Mr Spottletoe
Arthur Pentelow Mrs Spottletoe
Betty Duncan David Crimple
Tony Bronte Mr Fips
Ian Wilson Jefferson Brick
Victor Henry General Choke
Derek Murcott Major Pawkins
Cal McCord Mr Bevan
Jon Farrell Bullamy
Fred Hugh
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Stripped of all his expectations of enjoying, in time, the considerable Chuzzlewit fortune, Martin becomes an indentured pupil in the office of Mr Pecksniff (Richard Pearson) – a supposed architect who never seems actually to construct anything except elaborate schemes for the despoilment of his fellow men.
