Adapting Empire: The BBC and the Victorian Novel

Abstract

The BBC has shaped perceptions of Britain and its place in the world, using television, radio and journalism to mould and influence attitudes both domestically and internationally. The BBC’s reputation for producing high quality adaptations of classic novels is central to both the corporation’s conception of itself and its purpose. This thesis explores how BBC adaptations of Victorian novels made in the early 2000s grappled with themes and issues relating to Britain’s colonial past in a period when the nation was starting to confront the realities and legacies of its former empire. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, this thesis engages adaptation theory to investigate how these television adaptations relate to each other and their source texts, drawing upon historical sources and a variety of critical approaches - notably those of postcolonial and feminist scholars - in order to explore how the impact of these scholarly debates is reflected within popular culture Chapter One focuses on Sandy Welch’s 2004 adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South, reading this adaptation alongside Gaskell’s novel as well as David Turner’s 1975 adaptation, in order to explore how the cotton industry reflected domestic and global power dynamics and oppression. Chapter Two on Andrew Davies’ boundary pushing 2005 adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Bleak House examined alongside Arthur Hopcraft’s 1985 adaptation, focuses on Dickens’ critique of domestic, social and financial inequality and maps how this intersects with the novel’s colonial contexts. Chapter Three focuses on Sandy Welch’s 2006 adaptation of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, through a discussion of all major screen adaptations of the novel, as well as the 2006 BBC adaptation of Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea. The chapter explores how scholarly and social discourses in postcolonialism, feminism and mental health are incorporated into adaptations. The concluding sections seek to reflect upon where we are now, nearly twenty years later, and considers how important questions being asked about Britain’s imperial and colonial past more broadly are reflected in period drama and what impact this has on Britain’s colonial history as figured on screen.

Date of Award	1 Aug 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester
Supervisor	Howard Booth (Supervisor) & Anastasia Valassopoulos (Supervisor)