Crime and Punishment 2002 1 Part

Crime and Punishment 2002 2 Part

Crime and Punishment is a two-part British television crime drama series based upon the 1866 novel of the same name by Fyodor Dostoevsky, which first broadcast on BBC2 on 12 February 2002. The novel was adapted for television by playwright Tony Marchant, and was directed by Julian Jarrold.

John Simm stars as Rodya Raskolnikov, a former student who plans the murder of a pawnbroker to alleviate his financial problems, but also as an existential exercise, feeling himself able to commit such acts without guilt, remorse or justification. The series was broadcast over two consecutive nights, airing in the 9:00-10:30pm slot. The series was released on DVD on 25 August 2008, via 2|Entertain.

Production

The series was filmed in St. Petersburg. Simm said of his role as Raskolnikov; “The hard job for me is to make the viewer understand why Raskolnikov kills. But that is helped by seeing the place that he has to live in, it was absolutely disgusting. He is a very intelligent guy, who is slowly driven to madness by the things he sees around him.”

Reception

The series gathered mixed reviews in the press, with The Guardian claiming that “As Raskolnikov, the murderer, John Simm is the spindle the whole thing whirls around. He gives a vivid performance and looks like a vicious angel.

In the current Augean state of the stables, I am not able to find fault with this well-bred winner”; while The Telegraph were more scathing, writing “It’s as if scriptwriter Tony Marchant and director Julian Jarrold had decided to take the setting and crime-drama structure of Crime and Punishment and ditch the philosophical core, the engine that gives everything meaning.”

Cast

John Simm as Rodya Raskolnikov
Ian McDiarmid as Detective Porfiry
Shaun Dingwall as Razumikhin
Geraldine James as Pulcheria
Kate Ashfield as Dounia
Lara Belmont as Sonya
Mark Benton as Zosimov
Katrin Cartlidge as Katerina
Alice Connor as Polya
David Haig as Luzhin
Martin Hancock as Koch
Anna Hope as Nastasya
Philip Jackson as Marmeladov
Sean McKenzie as Semyonobvich
Roger Morlidge as Lt. Gunpowder
Jake Nightingale as Artisan
Tim Potter as Nikolai
Nigel Terry as Svidrigailov
Darren Tighe as Zamyotov
Heather Tobias as Lizaveta

Episodes

Part 1

Raskolnikov is a penniless young man incensed at the injustice he sees around him. Believing no one will miss her, he decides to rob and kill an old woman. But his own guilty conscience and the psychological skills of the murder investigator prove to be his undoing.

Part 2

Still haunted by his crime, Raskolnikov is visited in St Petersburg by his mother and sister Dunya, both of whom are alarmed by his worsening condition. Meanwhile, a dogged Porfiry remains on Raskolnikov’s trail, convinced of his guilt but lacking conclusive evidence.