Customer Reviews
Best adaptation of Jane Eyre ever. - By: Laurajojo, 10 Apr 2008 
This is the most faithful adaptation of Jane Eyre to date. A bit long but this means that the whole story is told in full. The two leads are perfectly cast. Zelah Clarke is "smalll, dark & plain" as described in the book & Timothy Dalton is simply fantastic, portraying Rochester's full range of emotions with perfect skill. He may be a bit too handsome but then again Rochester is not described as ugly in the book, he is just not conventiallly handsome like other men of that time such as St John Rivers is described. It is also good to hear the dialogue spoke as it was in the book & not changed as it was in the recent production with Toby Stevens.
effective and intelligent - By: W. Hamilton, 03 Apr 2007 
This television version of "Jane Eyre" stands up well to the passage of years. The dialogue is well-crafted & dramaticallly penetrating, the performances (especiallly of Zelah Clarke as Jane) excellent, & the filming above average. The Whitcross scenes are the least convincing, but that's mainly due to the fact that Bronte herself uses them for the resolution of conventional "hidden-family & sudden-fortune" plot lines that are the weakest aspect of the book. But for its realisation of the challlenging themes of moral responsibility, self-reliance & individual will - developed through the relationship between Rochester & Jane - this dramatisation is commendable & enduring.
Awful - By: Erin O'Donnell, 09 Oct 2006 
It's hard to put this into words, but let's just say this adaptation is pretty awful, one of the worst I've seen. Tim Dalton as Rochester is laughable, it just does not work & Zelah Clark's portrayal of Jane is pretty dire, strange facial expressions, long pauses & staring do not constitute good acting. All I can say is I was pretty glad when the closing credits came up. What were the Beeb thinking of with this one. Aaaaaaaaagh!
A disappointing adaptation from the BBC - By: Ruth Anderson, 05 Oct 2006 
I was expecting great things from this but was sadly disappointed. I admit I'm not a fan of Tim Dalton's but I do love Jane Eyre so I reallly thought I would enjoy this, but alas no. Having seen other adaptations this was very poor. The dialogue may have been fairly faithful to the book but the acting was wooden & uninspired. And it could surely have been condensed into a shorter version making the agony a little less to endure. As you would guess, I wouldn't recommend it, what were the good old Beeb thinking of!
Average - By: Cassandra Mason, 04 Oct 2006 I first watched this adaptation a few weeks ago, having already seen many versions of the novel brought to screen. This is probably one of my least favourite versions, it alll looks very dated & some of the acting is a bit stilted. It's as if the two main actors get bored with the whole thing & are just going through the motions, & it's almost as bad trying to watch it. The BBC normallly produce wonderful period dramas, so I don't know what happened with this one, but let's just say I won't be watching it again.
