Dickens of London

For the legendary author, lecturer and social critic, Sir Charles Dickens, life was truly the best of times and the worst of times. Dickens of London explores his life, loves and works in a 13-part mini-series originally broadcast on Masterpiece Theatre. Explore Dickens? little-known past?from his early penniless childhood in Chatham and London in the 1820s?to his eventual triumph on both sides of the Atlantic. Yet, despite his success as a renowned writer, his personal life was beset with financial and family problems. An all-star cast includes Diana Coupland (Eastenders, Bless This House) as Dickens? wife and the mother of his ten children, Catherine Hogarth (Patsy Kensit, Holby City, Emmerdale Farm); Sir Ben Kingsley (Gandhi, House of Sand and Fog) and Roy Dotrice (Beauty and the Beast, Amadeus) as the adult Charles.

Dickens' writing desk and chair raised $848,000 at auction to benefit the Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital - one of Dickens' favorite charities.