Great Expectations viewers HATED one thing about the show

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Great Expectations had the viewers all saying the same thing about the adaptation

Great Expectations Olivia Colman's Miss Havisham.
(Image credit: BBC)

Great Expectations hit our screens last night.

This latest adaptation of the Dickens classic has been eagerly awaited as fans were desperate to see Olivia Colman play the heartbroken Miss Havisham.

But just as many television viewers were unimpressed by yet another adaptation of the story about social climber Pip - coming only 10 years after the last BBC big budget  version.

Even so, it was must-see telly, and viewers settled down to watch young Pip start his journey.

Tom Sweet as younger Pip with Owen McDonnell as Joe Gargery the blacksmith.

Young Pip was an apprentice to blacksmith Joe Gargery (Image credit: BBC)

In the first episode, prisoner Magwitch escaped from a prison boat on the Thames marshes.

And he came across Pip, who was an apprentice to a blacksmith. Pip helped Magwitch by providing him with food - his sister Sarah's special pork pie - and a file to remove his shackles.

In return, when Magwitch was caught, he didn't tell anyone what Pip had done. Instead, he lied and said he'd broken into the blacksmith's house.

Later, Mr Pumblechook - played by Matt Berry - had a proposal for Pip. He said a local woman Miss Havisham - AKA Olivia Colman - wanted a companion for her adopted daughter, Estella.

So as the episode drew to a close, Pip went along to meet his new friend.

Miss Havisham was delightfully creepy in her wedding dress as she told Pip she wanted to watch he and Estella play.

Olivia Colman's Miss Havisham is a horrific sight, as expected of her cranky character.

Miss Havisham wanted Pip to be a companion to Estella (Image credit: BBC)

But despite all the action of episode one, it wasn't the story that got the fans talking. And though the glittering cast got several approving mentions on social media - with a lot of love for Matt Berry - it was something else entirely that got everyone complaining.

The dark!

Matt Berry as Mr Pumblechook

Everyone loved Matt Berry's appearance! (Image credit: BBC)

Great Expectations was an atmospheric watch. The marshes were filled with swirling mist, the blacksmith's cottage was dimly lit, and Miss Havisham's house was gloomy.

And the viewers didn't like it!

"Turn the lights on please," begged one viewer.

Another questioned whether to adjust the brightness on the television.

While one viewer simply wistfully said that one day the BBC might do an adaptation she could "actually see".

But it wasn't all bad news. Some viewers loved the "bleak" atmosphere of the first episode.

What did you think of the first episode? 

Great Expectations continues next Sunday on BBC One at 9pm. Check our TV Guide for more information. 

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Kerry Barrett
Kerry Barrett
Freelance writer

Kerry is a writer, author and editor with a lifelong love of the soaps, a passion for TV drama of all kinds, and an obsessive devotion to Strictly Come Dancing. 

She was features editor of All About Soap magazine for more than a decade, covering every bit of excitement from all the UK soaps and the Aussies and still writes about all the juiciest gossip from the Street, the Square and the Dales whenever she can.

Kerry’s also an author of historical fiction, and her two jobs collided when she got the chance to write two novels based on Emmerdale, and the Sugden, Tate and Dingle families, during WW2.