DICKENS’ ‘BLEAK HOUSE’ BEGINS RUN ON SUNDAY

Bleak is, indeed, the right word for “Bleak House.”

Charles Dickens’ novel about the parties to a drawn-out estate settlement in England’s Court of Chancery comes to public television Sunday in an eight-part dramatization on “Masterpiece Theatre.” The first hourlong chapter will be shown at 8 p.m. on Channel 24, at 8:15 p.m. on Channel 50 and at 9 p.m. on Channel 15. KCET Channel 28 will show the first and second episodes back-to-back Dec. 8.

It’s a stunning production in many ways--impeccably acted, perfectly rooted in place and time (London, circa 1850) and expertly photographed by Kenneth MacMillan to give an eerily realistic feeling of life without electric light. Indoors, faces are lit by firelight; outside they are muted by perpetual gray weather.

The lighting all too effectively sets the mood for Dickens’ dark tale. The story, adapted for the BBC by Arthur Hopcraft and directed by Ross Devenish, is cold, foggy and depressing.

Dickens’ focal point is a complicated settlement of a wealthy estate that has been pending for years in the Court of Chancery as lawyers haggle over the claims of various potential heirs, giving the matter a life of its own beyond the control of any of the parties to it.

“The case is poison,” one of those parties, John Jarndyce, declares in the sixth episode. Dickens’ point was that the legal system had made it so, and, with anger and bitterness, he unsparingly depicts the various ways that nearly everyone who comes in contact with the case is made the worse for it--sometimes fatally so.

These sad developments mostly play themselves out far from the courtroom, on so many fronts that viewers frequently may be confused about where the plot is taking them. There are more than a dozen characters to keep track of, we are not always told immediately who they are and how they fit in and some of them periodically disappear without explanation, only to pop up again unexpectedly.

Executive producer Jonathan Powell, who has overseen such other excellent book-to-TV transitions as “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy,” “Smiley’s People” and “Pride and Prejudice,” remains true to form by choosing to have “Bleak House” unfold more like a novel than a conventional, keep-it-simple TV program. Rather than using a straightforward dramatic narrative, the plot is built in layers so that the viewer learns about the characters and their lives in small doses. It really isn’t until about the fourth episode that the miniseries begins to build momentum.

Until then, and all the more after, viewers can content themselves with a gallery of distinctive Dickens characters, exquisitely performed by a cast that doesn’t have a weak link. The above-the-title stars are Denholm Elliott as Jarndyce and Diana Rigg as Lady Dedlock, another party to the legal mess, and their by-now-unsurprising excellence is matched by, among others, Philip Franks and Lucy Hornak as Jarndyce’s wards, who are drawn into the case by accident of birth; Suzanne Burden as another ward with a mysterious past; Jonathan Moore as a seedy but ambitious law clerk, and Peter Vaughan as an unscrupulous attorney (although that description, in the context of this story, is redundant).

“Hopes are not the business of the law,” a lawyer observes in the final episode. Nor of Dickens in writing about the law, it would appear.

Here are other weekend programs.

TODAY: “The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin,” a two-part animated story about a bear-like animal and his caterpillar companion, starts 11 a.m. (7) (3) (10) (42).

A report on the Nov. 13 volcano disaster in Colombia, “Ayudemos a Colombia” (“Let’s Help Colombia”), airs at 6 p.m. (18). . . .

“Headlines on Trial” questions whether mercy killing should ever be allowed, 6:30 p.m. (4). . . .

“The Fall Guy” returns to ABC’s lineup, replacing “Hollywood Beat,” 8 p.m. (7) (3) (10) (42). . . .

Roger Mudd anchors another edition of the NBC News magazine “American Almanac,” 10 p.m. (4) (36) (39). Segments include a profile of USA Today founder Allen Neuharth, a “no pass, no play” rule governing extracurricular school activities in Texas and the impending demise of the American family cattle ranch. . . .

Lauren Tewes, once a regular as Julie, the cruise director, turns up now as a guest star on “The Love Boat,” 10 p.m. (7) (3) (10) (42). . . .

In place of “Saturday Night Live,” David Letterman heads a 90-minute special, 11:30 p.m. (4) (36) (39).

SUNDAY: “Channel 4 News Conference” debates the Los Angeles City Council’s decision to declare the city a sanctuary for Central Americans fleeing political persecution and violence in their homelands, 8 a.m. (4). . . .

“Meet the Press” will be seen at 9 a.m. (4) (36), and 10 a.m. (39). . . .

“This Week With David Brinkley” arrives at 11:30 a.m. (7) (3) (10) (42). . . .

KMEX Channel 34 conducts its 14th annual “Navidad en El Barrio,” a telethon to raise money to buy Christmas food and toys for the East Los Angeles poor, from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. (34). . . .

“Face the Nation” looks at the laws governing smoking with Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, Rep. Charles Rose (D-N.C.) and attorney Melvin Belli, 4:30 p.m. (8). KCBS-TV Channel 2 is not carrying the public-affairs show because of sports programming. . . .

Bob Eubanks and Lee Meriwether host KTLA’s coverage of the 54th annual Hollywood Christmas Parade, 6 p.m. (5). . . .

“60 Minutes” looks at airport security, reports on schizophrenia and profiles Paul Hogan, the Australian comedian and tourist spokesman, 7 p.m. (2) (8). . . .

Loni Anderson, Dom DeLuise and Charles Durning star in “Guilt Trip,” an “Amazing Stories” episode that was directed by Burt Reynolds, 8 p.m. (4) (36) (39). . . .

“American Bandstand” celebrates its 33rd anniversary with a three-hour special, hosted by Dick Clark, and featuring appearances and film clips of such rock stars as Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Janis Joplin, Cyndi Lauper, Michael Jackson, Linda Ronstadt, Frankie Vallie and Stevie Wonder, 8 p.m. (7) (3) (10) (42). . . .

Raymond Burr and Barbara Hale star as “Perry Mason Returns,” 9 p.m. (4) (36) (39). . . .

Instead of “Masterpiece Theatre,” KCET is repeating “Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music” at 9 p.m. (28).