0:00:16 > 0:00:19"This is him, Fagin," said Jack Dawkins.
0:00:19 > 0:00:22"My friend, Oliver Twist."
0:00:23 > 0:00:26- Good evening, Mr Forster. - Hello, Polly.
0:00:26 > 0:00:28"Oliver did as he was told,
0:00:28 > 0:00:32"and then he was lifted up onto one of the sacks
0:00:32 > 0:00:34"where he fell...
0:00:34 > 0:00:37"into a deep...sleep."
0:00:37 > 0:00:40Don't stop on my account, Charles.
0:00:40 > 0:00:42'Night, 'night.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45I've lost count how many times I've read it to them.
0:00:45 > 0:00:47It's a wonderful story.
0:00:47 > 0:00:51There's no other novel that has a child as its main character.
0:00:52 > 0:00:54Perhaps you should write another.
0:00:54 > 0:00:56I've been planning it.
0:00:56 > 0:01:00- Well, that's wonderful, Charles. - But I haven't written a word yet.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03I have a few ideas and characters in mind but...
0:01:03 > 0:01:05it's like a stubborn child...
0:01:05 > 0:01:08who refuses to talk to me.
0:01:08 > 0:01:12Maybe you should work on something else for a while.
0:01:12 > 0:01:16What about this autobiography you've been thinking of writing?
0:01:28 > 0:01:30You've written it.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33- Up to my childhood.- That's fine.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36We'll publish in monthly instalments like your novels.
0:01:36 > 0:01:41No, John, it's for you to keep under lock and key. I never want it to see light of day.
0:01:43 > 0:01:45I don't understand, Charles.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50It contains something that I've never spoken of...
0:01:52 > 0:01:54..something that I've kept secret.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02I've never told anyone, not even my wife or children.
0:02:05 > 0:02:06I can see, whatever it is,
0:02:06 > 0:02:08it still causes you a lot of pain.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13But there must be some happy memories in here.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16Yes, there are. When we lived in Chatham.
0:02:16 > 0:02:21'I was a sickly child and so I couldn't play outside much.
0:02:21 > 0:02:25'My father kept a small collection of books in a little room upstairs.
0:02:25 > 0:02:29'From that special place, Gulliver, Robinson Crusoe, Aladdin
0:02:29 > 0:02:32'and Sinbad the Sailor came out to keep me company.'
0:02:32 > 0:02:35I am Sinbad. I have come for the treasure.
0:02:35 > 0:02:37Agh!
0:02:39 > 0:02:42Charles, can't you play outside?
0:02:42 > 0:02:44I will slice off your ears.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47Charles, I thought you were ill.
0:02:47 > 0:02:50How is Frances supposed to practise with all this noise?
0:02:51 > 0:02:53Charles, grab your coat.
0:02:53 > 0:02:56We're going for a walk.
0:02:56 > 0:03:00'More than anything, I loved the walks with my father.'
0:03:00 > 0:03:03I'm not sure whether to work for the Navy like you or be an actor.
0:03:03 > 0:03:08- Maybe I'll be a singer on stage and Frances could play the piano. - Let us just stop...
0:03:08 > 0:03:11Charles, just for a minute, and...
0:03:11 > 0:03:12well...
0:03:12 > 0:03:15admire the view...
0:03:15 > 0:03:17for a minute.
0:03:27 > 0:03:31I imagine a famous person lives in this house.
0:03:31 > 0:03:33Wealth and fame...
0:03:33 > 0:03:37are not necessarily linked, Charles.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42If you work very hard, Charles...
0:03:44 > 0:03:46..you could live in that house.
0:03:46 > 0:03:50'I understood that was his way of saying he was proud of me.
0:03:50 > 0:03:55'I hoped that one day I would achieve the great expectations he had for me.
0:03:55 > 0:03:59'The walks came to an end some weeks later when my father was posted to London.
0:03:59 > 0:04:03'The countryside and all my hopes were to vanish like a dream.'
0:04:08 > 0:04:10Well...
0:04:11 > 0:04:13..I'm sure it's very pleasant inside.
0:04:17 > 0:04:21'My father had taken a pay cut from the Navy
0:04:21 > 0:04:24'and so we were forced to take in a lodger,
0:04:24 > 0:04:25'James Lambert.'
0:04:25 > 0:04:29- Good morning, John. - Ah, yes, good morning, James.
0:04:31 > 0:04:36- Charles will clean those for you, James.- Thank you, Mrs Dickens.
0:04:38 > 0:04:40Plenty of blacking, Charles.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45WHISPERS: I thought you had paid this.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48I can't be expected to do everything, Elizabeth.
0:04:48 > 0:04:49Can't you...?
0:04:49 > 0:04:52Can't you see your brother?
0:04:52 > 0:04:54We already owe him £200.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56Bye, everyone.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59When am I going back to school?
0:04:59 > 0:05:00Not now, Charles, please!
0:05:02 > 0:05:03Well...
0:05:03 > 0:05:06something will turn up.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09Perhaps there'll be another war
0:05:09 > 0:05:13and the Navy will see me back to Chatham.
0:05:18 > 0:05:19Mrs Dickens...
0:05:20 > 0:05:25I have to move out at the end of the week and it's only fair that I pay you up to the end of the month.
0:05:25 > 0:05:28No, James, I won't hear of it.
0:05:28 > 0:05:32But I shan't fight you. I know how insistent you can be.
0:05:34 > 0:05:39We will be so sad to lose you, James. ..Won't we, Charles?
0:05:44 > 0:05:47'One day drifted into another. A year passed by.
0:05:47 > 0:05:53'I would have given anything to have been sent to a school or taught something anywhere.'
0:06:02 > 0:06:04One sixpenny loaf, please.
0:06:05 > 0:06:07Sixpence, please, young gentleman.
0:06:07 > 0:06:10It's for...Dickens.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13- Number 16.- That makes six months owing now, Number 16.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22MUSIC: "Moonlight Sonata" by Beethoven
0:06:23 > 0:06:26LOUD SCREAM
0:06:26 > 0:06:30Frances has gained a place at the Royal Academy of Music!
0:06:30 > 0:06:32- Oh! - "Dear Miss Dickens,
0:06:32 > 0:06:37"We are pleased to invite you to become a pupil at the Royal Academy."
0:06:37 > 0:06:38The Royal Academy!
0:06:38 > 0:06:40My dear!
0:06:42 > 0:06:44"..At £32 a year..."
0:06:47 > 0:06:49Well, we shall find it somehow.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52- Something will turn up.- Oh!- Oh!
0:06:52 > 0:06:54'I felt a stab in the heart
0:06:54 > 0:06:58'as once again my hopes of going to school were crushed.
0:06:58 > 0:07:02'I would have been completely miserable but for the old books.
0:07:02 > 0:07:04'I read them over and over.'
0:07:09 > 0:07:11Dickens!
0:07:12 > 0:07:14You ain't left the house yet.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17You owe me £40.
0:07:17 > 0:07:19Come on, pay us. Do you hear?
0:07:19 > 0:07:20Swindlers!
0:07:20 > 0:07:21Robbers!
0:07:25 > 0:07:27He's gone.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35I can't live like this.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38- We must do something.- Yes, my dear.
0:07:38 > 0:07:43- You're quite right. We must do something.- I have an idea.
0:07:43 > 0:07:48People working in the East Indies send their children home to be educated.
0:07:48 > 0:07:50So we will set up a school
0:07:50 > 0:07:54so that they may be educated here in London.
0:07:54 > 0:07:56A brilliant idea.
0:07:56 > 0:08:00- We shall grow rich by it. - Every day the sun rises
0:08:00 > 0:08:03and brings the promise of hope.
0:08:04 > 0:08:06Perhaps I might go to school.
0:08:06 > 0:08:09Well, indeed, you shall, Charles.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12Indeed, you shall.
0:08:13 > 0:08:18'We moved to a house costing double the rent of the previous residence.
0:08:22 > 0:08:24'I posted hundreds of circulars
0:08:24 > 0:08:27'promoting the merits of my mother's school.
0:08:29 > 0:08:33'Yet nobody came and nobody planned to come.
0:08:34 > 0:08:39'The only visitors I ever saw or heard of were creditors.'
0:08:54 > 0:08:56Take these to the pawnbroker's.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59They are solid silver. A wedding gift from my dear parents.
0:09:01 > 0:09:05'Rather than give up hope for the school,
0:09:05 > 0:09:08'my mother began to sell off the contents of the house.'
0:09:53 > 0:09:57Ah, Charles! Look who's paid us a visit.
0:09:57 > 0:10:00Happy birthday, Charles.
0:10:00 > 0:10:03- Thank you, Mr Lambert. - Oh, please, call me James.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05You must be 12 now.
0:10:05 > 0:10:10- Yes.- James has been made chief manager of Warren's boot blacking factory.
0:10:10 > 0:10:11And...
0:10:11 > 0:10:13he's offered you a position there
0:10:13 > 0:10:15working in the counting house.
0:10:15 > 0:10:20You are to be paid six shillings a week. ..A most generous offer.
0:10:20 > 0:10:25- What about school?- Ah! James has kindly offered to give up his dinner time to teach you.
0:10:25 > 0:10:29Just think, Charles, six shillings a week!
0:10:30 > 0:10:33'I'll never forget the look on my parents' faces.
0:10:33 > 0:10:38'It was as if I was 20 and was heading off to Cambridge University.'
0:10:41 > 0:10:44Charles, welcome to the world of business.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47This will be your work area.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51Now, are you good with your hands, Charles?
0:10:51 > 0:10:53- I think so.- Excellent.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56Your job will be to prepare the goods for sale.
0:10:56 > 0:11:00One of the more experienced workers...will explain the task.
0:11:13 > 0:11:15Name's Fagin. Bob Fagin.
0:11:15 > 0:11:17Charles Dickens. Pleased to meet you.
0:11:18 > 0:11:20Proper little gentleman, ain't you?
0:11:20 > 0:11:24The guv'nor's asked me to show you what we do downstairs.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29You cover the pots of paste blacking...
0:11:29 > 0:11:31first with a piece of blue paper,
0:11:31 > 0:11:33then with a piece of brown paper.
0:11:33 > 0:11:37You tie it around with a bit of string until it looks smart
0:11:37 > 0:11:39- as a pot of lady's ointment.- Agh!
0:11:40 > 0:11:44Here, you're lucky. There's an army of them in the cellar.
0:11:44 > 0:11:46Dinner's at twelve.
0:11:46 > 0:11:50We usually go down by the river and mess about on the coal barges.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53I can't. James is going to teach me then.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32Am I to have a lesson today, James?
0:12:33 > 0:12:35Let's start next week, shall we?
0:12:35 > 0:12:39Perhaps it's best if you work with the others downstairs.
0:12:57 > 0:13:01Let me introduce you two. This is Poll.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04P-O-L-L. Cos that's how his father spelt Paul!
0:13:04 > 0:13:07..And this is the little gentleman.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10Master Chickens.
0:13:11 > 0:13:13Oi, Chickens...
0:13:13 > 0:13:15how comes you work here, then?
0:13:15 > 0:13:17Are you an orphan?
0:13:17 > 0:13:19No.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22Well, your parents must really hate you.
0:13:24 > 0:13:26'I worked from eight in the morning
0:13:26 > 0:13:30'till six o'clock at night from Monday to Saturday
0:13:30 > 0:13:32'for six shillings.'
0:13:32 > 0:13:34SOBBING
0:13:38 > 0:13:41The baker has called in his debt.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45Your father has been taken to prison.
0:14:04 > 0:14:05Charles.
0:14:12 > 0:14:14My dear boy.
0:14:30 > 0:14:33I believe the sun has set upon me for ever.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45Take warning by my fate, Charles,
0:14:45 > 0:14:47and observe...
0:14:48 > 0:14:52..if a man has £20 a year...
0:14:52 > 0:14:53and spends...
0:14:55 > 0:14:56..£19...
0:14:56 > 0:14:5819 shillings...
0:14:58 > 0:15:00and sixpence...
0:15:00 > 0:15:02he is happy.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08Oh, but if he spends £20 one shilling...
0:15:12 > 0:15:13..he is miserable.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20Unfortunately, I have never taken that advice.
0:15:21 > 0:15:25'I really thought my father's heart was broken.
0:15:25 > 0:15:27'And mine too.'
0:15:31 > 0:15:34The guv'nor wants to see you upstairs.
0:15:42 > 0:15:44Ah, Charles.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48There's nothing left to sell in the house. I'm handing back the key.
0:15:48 > 0:15:53- The children and myself will move into prison with your father. - And I'll be coming too.
0:15:53 > 0:15:58No, Charles. I have secured lodgings for you with a Mrs Roylance
0:15:58 > 0:16:00to enable you to work here.
0:16:00 > 0:16:02BABY CRIES
0:16:03 > 0:16:05Now, I don't want any noise.
0:16:05 > 0:16:09You make your own meals and you clean up your own mess.
0:16:09 > 0:16:14I lock the door at ten o'clock and if you aren't in by then, tough!
0:16:15 > 0:16:17Are you listening?
0:16:17 > 0:16:21If you wet the bed, you're out on the street.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28'I lived only for Sundays when I met with Frances
0:16:28 > 0:16:32'and we joined the rest of my family for dinner.'
0:16:33 > 0:16:37I shall leave the Academy and come and stay with you here.
0:16:37 > 0:16:38Don't be foolish, Frances.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41One doesn't just leave the Royal Academy of Music!
0:16:41 > 0:16:44You must fly the flag for the Dickens family, Frances.
0:16:44 > 0:16:49It would be a great tragedy if your talent was wasted.
0:16:49 > 0:16:51We shall not be here for ever.
0:16:51 > 0:16:53Something will turn up.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58'And something DID turn up.
0:16:58 > 0:17:02'My grandmother died and left my father enough to pay off his debts.
0:17:02 > 0:17:06'My family were released after six months' incarceration
0:17:06 > 0:17:10'and came to join me at Mrs Roylance's.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13'I continued working in the blacking factory,
0:17:13 > 0:17:16'fully expecting to end up like Bob Fagin.'
0:17:25 > 0:17:31Your father has written a strong letter to me, Charles, complaining about your work conditions.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34I am running a business, not a charity.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37I'm sorry, Charles, but you'll have to leave.
0:17:37 > 0:17:42'No sooner had I arrived home than my mother set about resolving
0:17:42 > 0:17:45'the difference between James Lambert and my father.
0:17:45 > 0:17:48'She brought home a request for me to return the next day.'
0:17:48 > 0:17:50Charles!
0:17:55 > 0:17:58I think it's time you started school.
0:17:58 > 0:18:00'I never shall forget...
0:18:01 > 0:18:06'..I never can forget that my mother was keen for my return to that factory.'
0:18:06 > 0:18:10My parents refused to discuss that time, as though it never happened.
0:18:10 > 0:18:14The secret's so old it's grown to be part of me...
0:18:14 > 0:18:17impossible to let go of.
0:18:20 > 0:18:22Until now.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29"To begin my life, I record that I was born on a Friday
0:18:29 > 0:18:31"at twelve o'clock at night.
0:18:31 > 0:18:35"It was remarked that as the clock began to strike, I began to cry."
0:18:35 > 0:18:41- Charles, where are you taking me?- To show you the house I've just bought.
0:18:43 > 0:18:47- So, what did you think of David Copperfield?- I loved it.
0:18:47 > 0:18:50I was surprised by how much of it I recognised.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53It's an ingenious mixture of truth and fiction.
0:18:53 > 0:18:57'Charles Dickens lived in Gad's Hill for the remainder of his life
0:18:57 > 0:19:02'and wrote many more novels, including Great Expectations.
0:19:02 > 0:19:04'When Dickens was asked for his favourite novel,
0:19:04 > 0:19:08'he replied, "David Copperfield."
0:19:08 > 0:19:10'In 1871, a year after he died,
0:19:10 > 0:19:13'I wrote and published his biography.'
0:19:13 > 0:19:16Email us at subtitling@bbc.co.uk