David Copperfield - Episode 2

Description

Romance is in the air as David secretly gets engaged to his employer’s daughter, the beautiful but dizzy Dora Spenlow (Joanna Page) - despite Mr Spenlow’s (James Grout) outrage. Spenlow’s death soon after, however, gives David a chance to marry Dora, and he starts to write his stories and columns for newspapers. But what of the beautiful Agnes Wickfield (Amanda Ryan), his one constant friend? David is now working in London as a clerk at Spenlow’s and living at Mrs Crupp’s (Dawn French) house. However, her fondness for "peppermint cordial" renders her incapable of fulfilling her promise to Aunt Betsey (Maggie Smith) to treat David as if he were her own son. A chance meeting with his old schoolfriend, James Steerforth (Oliver Milburn), leads to David being invited to dinner with Steerforth’s mother (Cherie Lunghi). David also discovers from Agnes that her father’s clerk, the lurking and evil Uriah Heep (Nicholas Lyndhurst), is to become a partner in her father’s business - and the stage is set for a bitter battle. David takes Steerforth off to Yarmouth to visit his old nurse, Peggotty (Pauline Quirke), and her brother, Dan (Alun Armstrong). Steerforth is very attracted to young Emily (Aislín McGuckin) - despite the fact that she is due to be married to Ham Peggotty (James Thornton) - and it is a matter of time before he lures her away and promptly abandons her. David blames himself for introducing Steerforth to his dearest friends. Mr Micawber (Bob Hoskins) is reunited with David in London, and it is not long before he takes a job working for Uriah Heep, who now has almost complete power over Mr Wickfield (Oliver Ford Davies) and his business affairs - ruining Aunt Betsey in the process. As Dan Peggotty searches London and elsewhere for Emily, David’s wife, Dora (Joanna Page), is seriously ill after having a miscarriage. Will she survive? And will Heep be triumphant in his silent courting of Agnes and determination to take over Wickfield’s business for himself, aided by his ever-watchful mother (Thelma Barlow)? Or will Micawber expose Uriah for the devious wretch he is?

Runtime

1 hr 33 min 36 sec

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