26 Years Ago, Keira Knightley Starred in a Controversial Miniseries Adaptation That's Very Different From the Book

Although perhaps not as beloved as A Christmas Carol, A Tale of Two Cities, David Copperfield, or some of Charles Dickens' other great literary works, Oliver Twist is one of his most commonly adapted works on both the stage and the screen. The story of a young orphan boy who falls in with a London street gang, it deals with issues of class, parentage, legacy, and violence in ways that only a master storyteller like Dickens could. But if you find yourself wanting more than what the original novel has to offer, consider revisiting the four-part 1999 miniseries that features Keira Knightley as the titular orphan's kindly aunt, Rose Maylie. It may have sparked some controversy among Dickens-purists, but it's an exciting take that (additions and all) truly enhances the story.

The 1999 'Oliver Twist' Miniseries Was Quite Different From Charles Dickens' Original Tale

You may be wondering how anyone could make an Oliver Twist adaptation so controversial that it threatened to turn off audiences from the moment it began. After all, isn't the story pretty straightforward? Well, sure, but because Dickens originally wrote Oliver Twist as a serial story in Bentley's Miscellany magazine between 1837 and 1839, there are several plot elements and characters that aren't introduced until way later in the narrative. In fact, the final chapters produce eleventh-hour revelations that nobody could have ever seen coming, just so that Dickens could properly wrap his tale up. In stark contrast to the way that Oliver Twist keeps the truth about Oliver's (played by Sam Smith here — no, not that one) parents in the dark until the end, ITV's 1999 miniseries, directed by Renny Rye and penned by Alan Bleasdale, does something quite risky in its opening installment: it begins with a standalone prequel that deviates from Dickens entirely.

Yes, this four-part miniseries opens with Oliver's birth, but only before spending the rest of its inaugural hour meditating on the tragic romance between Edwin Leeford (Tim Dutton) and Agnes Fleming (Sophia Myles). Although Oliver would never truly know his parents, the audience is privy to their romance from the beginning of this hefty six-hour endeavor. It's here that we become acquainted with all the characters and the backstory that would factor in heavily to Oliver's life nine years later. We learn, long before Dickens reveals in his novel, that Leeford had been married previously to a horrible woman named Elizabeth (Lindsay Duncan), who gave birth to their even more unseemly son, a man known later only as "Monks" (Marc Warren). It's because of their wicked selfishness that Leeford never returns to Agnes before she gives birth, leading her to die upon bringing Oliver into the world.

When speaking about his decision to expand on Dickens with this prequel episode, screenwriter Alan Bleasdale believed that this added backstory would not only help move the plot along, but it would help him get over his own fears of bringing Oliver Twist to life. "It was a terrible risk," he told The Guardian a week before the miniseries aired in the UK in November 1999. "But the only way I could tell the story properly." For Bleasdale, Oliver Twist was the sort of tale where it was important that the audience understood all the complexities of the plot and the way the characters existed in their world. Without the purposeful exploration of Leeford and Agnes, we cannot truly understand the love that brought Oliver into the world, nor the deep-rooted hatred that would have him killed for the sake of a fortune.

The 'Oliver Twist' Miniseries Uses Its Prequel Tale To Add Weight to Oliver's Journey

The way that The New York Times' Neal Genzlinger explained it a year later during its American run on PBS, "Mr. Bleasdale has taken a short scene from late in the book and run with it, inventing details and dialogue and turning bit players into fully realized characters." While the critic admitted that the prequel content isn't a bad idea, there's no doubt that it was a controversial addition, especially among bookworm audiences. After all, who has the gall to think that they could stand in the same space as Dickens and add so cavalierly to his already timeless classic? And yet, Bleasdale's prequel paid off. Not only does Oliver Twist feel more complete with the addition of this Leeford/Agnes backstory, but it adds additional weight to other characters as well. We can better understand Brownlow's (Michael Kitchen) desire to pluck orphans off the street and find them good homes, Rose's own terrors upon seeing Monks at the window, and, of course, the entire villainous plot to rid the world of Oliver Twist.

While the prequel does well to thrust us head-first into the foundation from which the rest of Oliver Twist is built upon, it is only the beginning of the main event. Although the young Sam Smith has, admittedly, very little to do as Oliver is pushed around from master to master, it's the rest of the cast who really shine in this take of the familiar literary classic. Robert Lindsay, for instance, is such an inspired choice for Fagin that it's hard to imagine anyone else in the depraved role. The way he commands his young thieves and manipulates everyone else around him is masterful, with the swagger of a pirate and the mind of a jester. Likewise, Andy Serkis is not who you might expect to play the villainous, violent, and vulgar Bill Sykes, but he redefines the role with his eerie smile and terrible teeth each time he threatens poor Nancy (Emily Woof), who just can't seem to catch a break. And that's not to undermind Marc Warren, who brings more to Monks in this adaptation than any others previously or since.

Keira Knightley Absolutely Delivers as Rose in 'Oliver Twist'

After appearing in several other television film productions, Keira Knightley first appeared on the big screen in Star Wars — Episode I: The Phantom Menace, but that same year she also proved her acting talents on the small screen here. As Rose, Knightley embodies the life that Oliver might have had if Brownlow found him as a child, and yet she never takes her circumstances for granted. If anything, she uses the resources she has to care deeply for her unfortunate nephew, and Knightley delivers with grace and innocence that add more depth to Rose than perhaps we could mine from Dickens' novel. Years before she would wow audiences in Pirates of the Caribbean, Pride & Prejudice, or Anna Karenina, Knightley stands out in one of literature's finest tales of perseverance and redemption. There's no better time to revisit the 1999 miniseries than now. It's not quite Oliver!, but it's as solid as they come.