The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (a.k.a. Nicholas Nickleby) is a British TV film which aired in 2001, directed by Stephen Whittaker, based on the 1839 novel Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens.
Cast James D'Arcy as Nicholas Nickleby Sophia Myles as Kate Nickleby Diana Kent as Mrs. Nickleby Charles Dance as Ralph Nickleby George Innes as Newman Noggs Lee Ingleby as Smike Donald Sumpter as Mr. Brooker Gregor Fisher as Wackford Squeers Pam Ferris as Mrs. Squeers Debbie Chazen as Fanny Squeers Chris Roebuck as Wackford Squeers Junior Hannah Storey as Tilda Price Tom Ellis as John Browdie Berwick Kaler as Mr. Snawley Abigail McKern as Miss La Creevy Tom Hollander as Alfred Mantalini Marian McLoughlin as Madame Mantalini Rosalind March as Miss Knag Dominic West as Sir Mulberry Hawk Roderic Culver as Lord Verisopht Malcolm Tierney as Vincent Crummles Jacqueline Tong as Mrs. Crummles Ruth Chapman as Ninetta Crummles, The "Infant Phenomenon" Richard Katz as Mr. Lenville Jonathan Coy as Charles Cheeryble Simeon Andrews as Ned Cheeryble JJ Feild as Frank Cheeryble Frank Mills as Arthur Gride Liz Smith as Peg Sliderskew Katherine Holme as Madeleine Bray Philip Bond as Mr. Walter Bray Tom Hiddleston as Lord John Dallimore as Vicar
Reviews In Variety, "some striking performances" were noted from James D’Arcy with "just the right dashing look for a young romantic hero, and he can emit his character’s empathy without a single wasted expression. The phrase “lighting up the screen” comes to mind, which is rare"; Charles Dance made a contrast with the other, especially evil, "broadly played (and well done in that vein)" characters, showing Ralph's cruelty as "composed and real, enabling the final twists to take on a tragic, human quality". Gregor Fisher and Lee Ingleby were also praised.Stephen Oxman. The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby. Variety, 28 January 2002., accessed 24 April 2026.
In The Dickensian, the reviewer noted that the focus was concentrated on Ralph, "the centre of a maelstrom of intrigues, which swirl round all the characters", and that Charles Dance displayed "chilling, reptilian authority", with "a fine gang of rogues - a zestful, demonic Squeers (Gregor Fisher), a splendid Arthur Gride... (Frank Mills) and a bragging Mulberry Hawk (Dominic West)". He observed that Smike "was a very interesting creation [which] deftly steered the difficult course between pathos and mawkishness". He found that Stephen Whittaker "swept things along. Scene followed scene, and sequences flashed by as the drama was taken at a good rattling pace, appropriate to the high days of the stage coach", although he felt that "Climaxes might have been better prepared, relationships better established and some fine dialogue preserved".Nicholas Nickleby Film Review. Nicholas Nickleby: dramatized by Martyn Edward Hesford, ITV April 2001. Review by Robert Giddings (from The Dickensian), accessed 24 April 2026.
Awards Costume designer Barbara Kidd won a Royal Television Society Award in 2001, and a BAFTA in 2002 for her work on this film.
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