In my youth I set myself the task of reading Dickens. I read Great Expectations, David Copperfield, Little Dorrit and a few other novels with great pleasure. I decided that I could skip the ones I judged weaker, and so I never bothered with A Tale of Two Cities. On the basis of this ITV series I made the right choice. Dickens is never interesting when he deals with events taking place before he was born, and so it is here. I don't care about Dr. Manette and his daughter, Sidney Carton and his death-wish, or any of the other plot threads.The cast is starry: John Mills, James Wilby, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Anna Massey (whom I remember from so many TV dramas) and many more capable performers, many of them French. The sets are well-designed, costumes appropriate... ho hum.

I met this mini TV series by chance many years ago, when I was still in my teen-age years, and I found I loved it at first sight.:) It's a beautiful journey watching this new adapted classic which continued for somewhat more than three hours. All the actors, especially those who stood for the four major characters, were definitely the perfect choices for this famous story.I liked James Wilby, in the way he rambled around mopishly, the way he loved 'Lucie' in an unbeknown warm corner of his deep heart and he smiled before people weakly. I always thought that years ago James Wilby was one of the few absolutely beautiful actors I have seen in my life, and in this TV in 1989, his beauty was totally unapproachable! The performance of the good-looking french actor Xavier Deluc for 'Darnay' was brilliant too. It's really odd that during watching this TV I continued thinking about he was somehow a bit similar with dear Dicaprio in some aspect. But what a pity that he seemed to arise in other TV or movie out of France rarely these past years.The french actress Serena Gordon for 'Lucie' had a pair of really large eyes! And she had an appropriate tender and lovely look and that kind of archaic temperament.All in all, I would clutch at any chance to watch this splendid mini TV again! Regretfully, DVD version of it is not seen coming out by now in China. But it is still vividly memorized in my heart, in spite of these many years run through~

I rented this movie without expectation, thinking it was just another mini series made in the 80's with poor lighting and wacky hairstyles. But I was blown away by it! The innocence and heartbreaking bittersweetness of the movie gripped me, and of the thousands of movies I've watched I have never seen one with this astounding of character development. Even if you generally don't enjoy movies like this, I recommend to give it a try! It's not easily found, but if you are lucky enough to stumble across it you'll love it. The set and hairstyles are very 80's-ish, but the acting and characters are so perfectly drawn I didn't notice anything but them! Sydney Carton now ranks right up there with Sir Percy Blakeney (from The Scarlet Pimpernel) on my list of ideal men.

This is without doubt one of the real gems of the British TV scene ever. The story, the characters, the costumes and the acting are all without fault and could never be bettered. Do not pass up the opportunity of seeing this series if it ever should arise. From the opening scenes to the tear-jerking conclusion there is drama, excitement, romance, heroism and self-sacrifice, often several of them simultaneously. It is altogether a most marvellous experience and a real landmark in the history of recorded drama. I don't doubt that Charles Dickens would have been proud to have been associated with it.