7. Pickwick (TV, 1969)
While
Oliver! was clearly the best attempt to turn Dickens' work into musical form, it was by no means the only attempt. In the 1960s and 1970s two other Dickens novels were given the musical treatment. One was
Mister Quilp, which met with very poor reviews and sank without trace at the box office. The other was
Pickwick, based upon
The Pickwick Papers, and that was a great deal more successful both on the stage and subsequently on TV. Pickwick stars Harry Secombe (one-third of
The Goon Show) as Samuel Pickwick, a wealthy but unworldly gentlemen who is founder and perpetual president of The Pickwick Club. Joining up with three other members , Pickwick journeys throughout England getting into a series of misadventures with his trusted associate Sam Weller. The story takes place largely in flashback, with Pickwick and Weller recounting their stories from their jail cell, having been found guilty of breach of promise (telling someone you would marry them and then not doing so). I'm a massive fan of
The Goon Show, and therefore you may read this inclusion as little more than an excuse to get Secombe on this list twice (he also plays Mr. Bumble in
Oliver! - more on that later). But even without his great performance, or the song which become his signature tune ('If I Ruled The World'), there is a great deal about Pickwick that is entertaining. Jazz trumpeter Roy Castle is very entertaining as Sam Weller, and there are good supporting performances by Hattie Jacques as Mrs. Bardell and Bill Fraser as Sergeant Buzzfuzz. Frazer would eventually play Mr. Casby in
Little Dorrit for the BBC, which brings us very nicely onto our nice entry...