49. The Old Curiosity Shop (2007), 2.27.12

Man, this is like the most Dickensy Dickens to ever Dickens. There are lines like, “Prepare yourself for a sad scene,” characters named Kit Nubbins, Sally Brass, and Mr. Quilp, and a character who drowns, visible through ice, while jewelry and money floats around him. And someone who made this really likes watching Toby Jones eat food as messily as he can. Also: IMDb claims that Martin Freeman is in this (which I totally didn’t know/remember but would’ve fit nicely into my ongoing semi-unintentional Sherlock actor film festival), but I didn’t see him. IMDb also claims that it’s 93 minutes, but today’s broadcast started at 3pm and ended at 4:25pm. What gives, PBS? Did I overlook a very short Martin scene? Or perhaps his storyline was the eight minutes you cut out? Not cool, dude.