Little Dorrit has been thoroughly enjoyable

After all, Little Dorrit has been a monster of a story, with family connections and chance encounters setting up all sorts of convoluted plotlines, involving far too many characters to keep track of.

But endurance test aside, the whole thing has been thoroughly enjoyable, and an example of what the BBC does best.

My favourite part of the whole thing may be Andy Serkis, as French murderer and all-round scoundrel Rigaud, complete with a ridiculous false nose, pictured left.

The actor – best known as Gollum in The Lord of The Rings – is having an absolute whale of a time playing the monstrous character.

Rigaud is so wicked he thinks nothing of killing poor little dogs with a cackle and a sneer, and he’s littered the series with corpses.

And he’s so French he makes Raymond Blanc sound like Michael Caine. Serkis wrings every drop of comedy out of his flamboyant pronunciation – my own favourite moments come when he chats to the not-quite-as-vile Flintwitch, played by Alun Armstrong. Or, as Rigaud hilariously calls him, “Flontweshh,” before blithering on, incomprehensibly.

The BBC is an expert on doing this stuff, and there is no denying the sheer class of it all.

Atmospheric sets, intricate costumes, characters to root for and others to hiss as they slink across the screen.

In fact, it might as well be a TV panto.

The half-hour format of the series – pioneered with Bleak House three years ago – has come in for some flak this time round. Apparently some audiences have been put off at how slow it all is.

It’s understandable – no one can accuse this series of trying to appeal to the Playstation generation by moving at a breakneck pace.

But I like the half hour slots. I usually get costume drama fatigue about 40 minutes in – the result of having a wife who usually commandeers the telly whenever they’re on. That’s when my mind starts to wander and I’m left wondering who’s going to die shockingly in the next episode of Spooks or something instead.

The shorter slots work well – just enough to move the story on and keep you coming back, but not enough to overload you with all these intricate plot threads.

But amidst all the hugely enjoyable overacting – take a bow Tom Courtenay – two of the strongest performances have come from some of the quieter cast members.

Making her debut as Amy Dorrit, the title role, is newcomer Claire Foy, who has held the whole thing together like a true pro. And Matthew MacFadyean, as Arthur Clennam, a man seeking to right a mysterious wrong committed by his family, is hugely likable as the committed do-gooder.

There’s just a week to go, and despite feeling like I have endured a bit of a marathon – admittedly one that doesn’t involve much exercise – I’m quite looking forward to seeing how it all turns out. Especially for that pesky Frenchman Rigaud, who is surely in for a hefty comeuppance.