Readings.com.au: Andrew Davies

Bleak House

Boasting an all star cast including Gillian Anderson, Denis Lawson, Charles Dance, Alistair McGowan, Pauline Collins, Johnny Vegas and many more, this ground-breaking adaptation of one of Dickens' most celebrated novels is by the BAFTA award-winning team of writer Andrew Davies (Pride & Prejudice, The Way We Live Now, Vanity Fair) and producer Nigel Stafford-Clark (Warriors, The Way We Live Now, He Knew He Was Right).

Arguably the greatest ever depiction of Victorian London, Bleak House is at heart a thrilling murder mystery. The drama was adapted as a 15-part story, using the pace, multiple storylines and cliff-hanger endings more usually associated with popular drama, echoing the way in which Charles Dickens originally published the story in 19 monthly installments.

This classic epic feast of characters and storylines is also a passionate indictment of the legal system making it as relevant and achingly compelling today as it was in the mid-19th Century. At the recent BAFTA's this adaptation won awards for Best Drama Serial and Best Actress (Anna Maxwell Martin).

The House Of Cards

When Ruth Matthews's husband is killed in a fall at an archaeological dig, her daughter Sally handles her father's death in a very odd manner. As Sally's condition worsens, Ruth takes her to see Jake, an expert in childhood autism. Jake attempts to bring Sally out of her mental disarray through traditional therapy methods, but Ruth takes a different route. She risks her own sanity by attempting to enter her daughter's mind and make sense of the seemingly bizarre things that Sally does, including building a wondrous house of cards.

The Line Of Beauty

Adapted by award-winning writer Andrew Davies from Alan Hollinghurst's Booker Prize-winning novel, this three-part saga is set during the hedonistic 1980s and stars a mix of new, young talent and established names. A story of love, class, sex and money, The Line of Beauty crawls deep under the skin of Thatcher's Britain, seen through the eyes and experiences of a young, gay man, from the euphoria of falling in love to the tragedy of Aids.

Bridget Jones's Diary

From the makers of Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill comes the screen adaptation of Helen Fielding's international best seller starring Golden Globe winner Renee Zellweger (from Nurse Betty and Jerry Maguire) in the title role as the dynamic, irrepressible and outrageously original Bridget Jones. 32-year-old Bridget smokes too much, drinks too much and has a tendency to say whatever's on her mind. As a New Year's resolution she decides it's time to take control of her life - and starts keeping a diary.

Now, the most provocative, erotic and hysterical book on her bedside table is the one she's writing. With a taste for adventure and an opinion on every subject - from exercise to men to food to sex and everything in between - she's turning the page on a whole new life.The fireworks begin when her charming though disreputable boss played by Hugh Grant (from Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill) takes an interest in the quirky Miss Jones and the ups and downs of their ill-fated relationship prove hilarious. Thrown into the mix are Bridget's band of slightly eccentric friends and a rather disagreeable acquaintance (Colin Firth from Shakespeare in Love) that Bridget cannot seem to stop running into or help finding quietly attractive.