Dombey And Son

Charles Dickens was born in 1812, the son of a clerk in the Navy Pay Office. At the age of twelve his father was imprisoned for debt and Dickens was sent to work in a warehouse; this intensely unhappy time provided background for many of his novels.

He became an office clerk, studied shorthand and began working as a reporter of Commons debates for the Morning Chronicle. These articles, published as Sketches by Boz (1836-7), attracted the attention of the publishers Chapman & Hall. A suggestion from Hall led to the creation of Mr Pickwick. The Pickwick Papers (1837), after a slow start, became immensely popular and its characters achieved cult-like status; Dickens was courted by publishers and admired by the public. In 1837 Oliver Twist was published in monthly instalments, followed by Nicholas Nickleby (1838-9), The Old Curiosity Shop (1840-1) and Barnaby Rudge (1841).

In 1842 Dickens and his wife, Catharine Hogarth, travelled to America. At first Dickens, who was popular there, was very favourably impressed by the country. He became disillusioned, however, speaking out about the abolition of slavery in American Notes (1842), which caused offence. The publication of Martin Chuzzlewit (1843-4), with its American stereotypes, did nothing to improve the situation.

Over the next twelve years eight more novels appeared: Dombey and Son (1844-6), David Copperfield (1849-50), Bleak House (1852-3), Hard Times (1854), Little Dorrit (1855-7), A Tale of Two Cities (1859), Great Expectations (1860-1) and Our Mutual Friend (1864-5).

In 1858 Dickens separated from his wife amidst rumours of his growing friendship with the young actress Ellen Ternan. As a distraction from domestic difficulty, he began to give public readings of his own works. With their strong characters, his novels were well suited to being read aloud and these performances became enormously popular.

Charles Dickens died on 9 June 1870 leaving an unfinished novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Dickens' work has since been read and dramatised many times on BBC radio, the first occasion being on 29 December 1923 with a performance of A Christmas Carol transmitted from the Old Vic. On 30 January 1948 BBC television broadcast its first Dickens work - a play adapted from A Tale of Two Cities. The first full television dramatisation appeared on Christmas Day 1950; appropriately enough, it was A Christmas Carol.