suspicious of Nancy and has sent the Dodger and Charley to spy on her; when Sikes learns she went to Brownlow's house, he murders her in a fit of rage. Meanwhile, Elizabeth Leeford, who has persisted in her pursuit of revenge and money, but who now is aging and unwell, dies suddenly, leaving Monks/Edward, who is now strong enough to escape her beatings, a free agent. Brownlow's men arrest him and bring him to Brownlow's house. Between Nancy's murder and Monks's desertion, Fagin is increasingly cornered. He scatters his gang and disguises himself. However, Sikes, now a fugitive, arrives to try to get Fagin to help him escape. By this point a mob is breaking down the doors of the house. Sikes falls from the roof and is killed; Fagin is spotted by Oliver and Charley (who has given up on crime) in the crowd and arrested. Brownlow persuades Edward Leeford to confess to Rose and Oliver what he and his mother tried to do. He describes his own childhood trauma, including an accident that left him with uncontrollable seizures and his mother's abuse of him. Brownlow, Rose, and Oliver agree that he can have his rightful part of his father's estate, and he emigrates to the Caribbean, where he marries and starts a family. As Fagin awaits execution, Brownlow and Oliver visit him, and he tells Oliver how to find what Monks/Edward gave him for safekeeping, an unmailed letter from Edwin to Agnes, written shortly after the death of his uncle and just before his own murder; Brownlow reads this to Oliver. Shortly thereafter, Rose marries Dr. Losborne, a local physician, and Oliver attends the wedding with Brownlow's household, where Charley is now employed. Cast Controversy The adaptation, by Alan Bleasdale, attracted controversy, particularly for the decision to begin with two hours of backstory (much of it invented by Bleasdale) before reaching the plot of the novel. Furthermore, Bleasdale altered well-known sections of the novel, so that although the basic idea is the same, almost every detail is changed enough so that the drama plays like an original story, not an adaptation. Monks, who is made an out-and-out murderer in this serial (he kills his father), is nevertheless changed from a completely irredeemable and evil villain to someone who reforms to the point of getting married and starting a family. Home media On 27 March 2000 ITV released a