High school English class has a way of imprinting on you, even more so when you are a teenager reading about embittered zombies raising small children, like Miss Havisham in the new production of "Great Expectation" airing on PBS.
Gillian Anderson, in another career leap, erases most of my high school images of Miss Havisham as an extremely old witch-like woman and transforms her into a more eccentric, slightly mean-ish teacher that we all had at one point or another.
Wizened and graceful, like an old ballerina, Anderson glides through Part 1 of "Great Expectations" ethereal and chilly, like a ghost influencing the directions of Pip and Estella's young lives, channeling the casual cruelty of Miss Havisham. Anderson delivers a magnificent performance, especially her eerie voice, a far cry from the robust monotone of Agent Scully.
For those who have not read the book, don't worry, just see this inspired production, true to PBS standards, perfectly capturing the bleak lives of the country poor in 19th century England as Dickens intended. Part 2 airs Sunday April 8, 2012.
