How Long to Watch “Middlemarch”?

Previously adapted for British television in 1968, George Eliot's 19th century novel +Middlemarch was again brought to the small screen in a serialized fashion by the BBC2 beginning January 12, 1994. Juliet Aubrey starred as Dorothea Brooke, who made the mistake of her life when she entered into a "safe" marriage to tradition-bound minister Edward Causabon (Patrick Malahide) instead of following heart by wedding progressive young physician Tertius Lydgate (Douglas Hodge) . The sociological tug of war between Causabon and Lydgate was a microcosm of the Industrial Revolution, with Dorothea represnting the confused populace, afraid to make the necessary steps towards modernism while still admonishing the backward-looking tendencies of the Landed Gentry. Jane Aubrey won the Royal Television Society best actress award for her performance, while the musical score by Christopher Gunning and Stanley Myers was honored with a BAFTA award. After concluding its 6-episode run in Britain, Middlemarch was picked up for American airplay by the PBS anthology Masterpiece Theatre, airing from April 10 to May 15, 1994. The DVD version of this miniseries includes a 30-minute "Making of Middlemarch" documentary.