Episode 1

T1, E1: David’s happy childhood days in the village of Blunderstone with his mother, Clara (Emilia Fox), and at Great Yarmouth with their servant, Peggotty (Pauline Quirke) and her family, are brought to an end by the marriage of Clara to high-minded but brutal Edward Murdstone (Trevor Eve). He and his sister, Jane (Zoë Wanamaker), move into the peaceful little house and begin a repressive regime. Peggotty is powerless to protect David and finds herself sidelined. Murdstone’s loathing of the boy brings them to a confrontation that leads to David being sent away to school, where Mr Creakle (Ian McKellen) beats him as a matter of course but where he meets James Steerforth (Harry Lloyd), who becomes his friend and protector.