Encore: Charles Dickens | The Final Curtain | 4
Legacy
Original Legacy Productions
3.9 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 30 December 2025
⏱️ 43 minutes
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Summary
At the height of his fame, Dickens falls in love with a young woman (Nelly Ternan) and a city (Paris). He survives a train crash and public disapproval over his separation from his wife. People turn out in droves to see him perform his works on stage. But his lifestyle is catching up with him and his health is failing. What is his final scene to be? We look back at his life and try to work out what “Dickensian” really means.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to a special Legacy Encore episode. |
| 0:13.5 | While we take a short break over the Christmas period, we're dipping back into the archive |
| 0:17.8 | to revisit some of our favourite episodes. |
| 0:20.7 | And we can't start anywhere better than with Charles Dickens and Christmas Cowell. |
| 0:24.5 | We'll let the episode speak for itself. But before we do, here's a quick reminder that the full |
| 0:29.6 | back catalogue is always there for you to explore. |
| 0:34.7 | Hello and welcome to the final episode of our series on Charles Dickens. |
| 0:39.4 | We left you at the end of the last episode with Dickens, having made it right to the top, |
| 0:44.1 | he's bought the house on the hill that he dreamt about as a child. |
| 0:47.7 | He's acclaimed as a writer from Russia to America as a modern great. |
| 0:51.8 | He's one of the most famous men in the whole of Britain. |
| 0:54.7 | But he has shocked London society by separating from his wife Catherine, |
| 1:00.2 | and he has a secret, one that could ruin him if it becomes public. |
| 1:05.1 | Music From Wondery and Gollhanger, I'm Peter Frank O'Hopern. |
| 1:18.9 | And this is Legacy, the show that tells the lives of the most extraordinary men and women ever to have lived, and asks if they have the reputation that they deserve. |
| 1:39.7 | This is Charles Dickens, episode four, the final curtain. |
| 1:44.2 | Thank you. This is Charles Dickens, episode four. The Final Curtain. |
| 2:00.2 | 9th of June, 1865, Kent. |
| 2:04.0 | Charles Dickens looks at his pocket watch and then at the two women sitting opposite him |
| 2:06.5 | on the Folkestone London train. |
| 2:09.1 | They should be easily backed by 5pm. |
| 2:12.0 | He smiles at the younger of the two women, |
... |
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