Hard Times (novel) Deb McAndrew and directed by Conrad Nelson. The novel has also been adapted twice as a mini-series for British television, once in 1977 with Patrick Allen as Gradgrind, Timothy West as Bounderby, Rosalie Crutchley as Mrs. Sparsit and Edward Fox as Harthouse, and again in 1994 with Bob Peck as Gradgrind, Alan Bates as Bounderby, Dilys Laye as Mrs. Sparsit, Bill Paterson as Stephen, Harriet Walter as Rachael and Richard E. Grant as Harthouse. Hard Times (novel) Hard Times – For These Times (commonly known as Hard Times) is the tenth novel by Charles Dickens, first published in 1854. The
Sam Weller (character) as a personal servant and companion on his travels. The relationship between the idealistic and unworldly Pickwick and the astute cockney Weller has been likened to that between Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. Sam Weller (character) Sam Weller is a fictional character in "The Pickwick Papers", the first novel by Charles Dickens, and is the character that made Dickens famous. Weller first appeared in the tenth serialised episode. Previously the monthly parts of the book had been doing badly—the humour of the character transformed the book into a publishing phenomenon. Weller's way of quoting people has led to the wellerism,