Our Mutual Friend

The quality of the print can be iffy in parts, it pains me to report. Nothing drastic, only not quite as sharp as you would like. The sound quality, however, is consistently fine.

There is only one "extras" feature, unless you want to listen to half an hour of Adrian Johnston's music, which I didn't.

Dickens: The Final Chapter is a mini documentary by Sara Feilden on the background of the novel and how the author was feeling at the time - "full of sadness, alienation and a sense of bitterness", according to Jonathan Miller.

A common room of academics is assembled for comment, most of which is fascinating. The Thames in 1865 was so smelly, the Houses of Parliament went into recess when the stench became unbearable. Before a sewer system was built under London, the river took it all.

They talk of scavenging as a way of life and "the dust mountains", which feature so strongly in Our Mutual Friend, as a feature on the edge of every city.

The producer, Catherine Wearing, explains why a set had to be built in Cardiff to represent Limehouse, as London's riverbank has changed beyond recognition.

Dickens's lack of education, his lifelong passion for the Ragged Schools and his loathing of the Poor Laws is also discussed. Although educational by nature, nothing in this "extra" is boring, or superfluous.