Little Dorrit still dont know the answer ?

[sarah_louise]

Sorry to be so thick .....
So is Little Dorrit Mrs Clennams Daughter ?
If so how did she get born in the Marshalsea prison ?
Was William Dorrit the father ?

[Marijn]

Andrew Davies should've stuck to the story. I don't think it would've added that much more time to do the real story? Why would it have been longer saying Arthur was the real son of Mr Clennam instead of Amy?
Anyway, I forgot to say Mr Pancks was my favourite, how could I have missed him out.

[Marijn]

And yes, I saw him in Pierrepoint too, brilliant!

[Supermike]

Thanks In A Pickle for your detailed and very informative information on house building at that time. Thanks also to all the other contibutors for explaining what was happening. I must say, thoufh, if the book was more complex I don't think I will bother reading it.

[123everton]

Thanks all, a lot clearer now, my personal favourite was Fanny a fine figure of a woman and now begod nonsense about her.

[Supermike]

Particular thanks to In A Pickle for explaining the plot so clearly. I think I will watch the last episode again on Sunday armed with all of the information I will enjoy it more. thanks again

[sarah_louise]

Moonshadow your answer seems the most logical of all.

I picked up the book about 700 pages and sought the explanation towards the end without being any wiser.

[sarah_louise]

In a Pickle what do you think of Moonshadows version of events which differ slightly in that Amy was not a child of the Mr Clennam at all but a chance beneficiery of the will and actually William Dorrits daughter.?
Which did Dickens intend ?

[moonshadow]

Little Dorrit is a very complicated book to understand sarah-lou that's probably why Andrew Davies chose it as he loves controversy. I may not be 100% right but it was the nearest I could get. In the book there was a character called Mrs Bangham who acted as a nurse to Mrs Dorrit in her confinement when Amy was born at the prison. Dr Haggage was a drunken Dr who was a deptor at The Marshalsea and attended Mrs Doritt at the birth of Amy.
The only person I can find who came from The Foundling Hospital was Harriet Beadle, nicknamed Tattycoram by The Meadles. She appeared quite a lot in the book but not in the series. She ended up going back to live with The Meadles after discovering Amy's box and realising how evil Miss Wade was. In a PIckle got quite a lot of it right though.

[tiggerblue10]

I was confused as well. I had to V+ it and watch it again but it still made no sense. Thanks to IAP and Moonshadow for the explanations although I'm still puzzled as to the significance of Tattycorams part in the book.

[denis567]

Tell you something, after reading all the previous posts, I watched the repeat tonight and I understood it a lot better.

[BenDToy]

I finally watched it all tonight (and I haven't read the book).
Thanks Moonshadow - I am fairly confident that your version is closest to what I thought. I had to watch the "denouement" (is that the right word?) three times but it fits well with what I saw and heard. Arthur's age was double that of Amy and so it is almost impossible for her to have been Mrs Clennam's child.
However at one point Arthur was referred to as an "orphan" and that doesn't make sense.
Thanks to all contributors. An excellent discussion.