I definitely liked Susan more in the BBC version than I did in the Walden version. She seemed more caring and gentle, the way Susan the Gentle is supposed to be. And she felt more like a responsible older sister type than the Walden version. And Book!Susan always came across as a responsible older sister type to me. I prefer it much more than the cold, logic-driven version of Susan we meet in the Walden movie.

~Riella

I liked Caspian and Peter better in BBCs "Prince Caspian" than in the Walden version. Simply because they were closer to the book version where Caspian was a young boy and Peter was another boy who helped him to regain his throne, they were not two arrogant young men who were resenting each other's positions.

I'm not talking about the actors' performances here, just about the movie-makers' interpretation of the characters.

Overall, with regards to both character-portrayal and script, I think the BBC Narnia movies stayed faithful to C. S. Lewis' books much better than the newer movies, especially PC and VoDT - I felt the recent versions of these two strayed quite far from the original books.

So, because BBC's character portrayals were truer to the books, I liked them better than the portrayals in the newer movies. There are two portrayals that especially stand out in this way: Peter's and Caspian's in Prince Caspian. Varnafinde, you hit the nail on the head with what you said about these two characters' portrayals; I quite agree!

When they meet in the book, the dialogue between Peter and Caspian goes as follows:
"Your Majesty is very welcome," said Caspian.
"And so is your Majesty," said Peter. "I haven't come to take your place, you know, but to put you into it."

The BBC version of PC got these characters so right! I can't remember at the moment if this actual line by Peter is in the movie, but, even if it isn't, this humble attitude on Peter's part definitely comes across in his words and actions. And, in the BBC PC, Caspian's attitude toward Peter is one of humility as well. Just like the book!

However, in the newer PC, Peter and Caspian are at odds with one another from the minute they meet. They're not humble toward each other at all; rather, each one always seems to be trying to show that he's better than the other. Sooo different from the characters from the book! (In watching the movie, however, it seems that Peter is more this way than Caspian; even though Caspian is unsure/suspicious of Peter, the latter seems to be the one to instigate conflict more than the former.)

So, that's my rant on the character portrayals of Peter and Caspian in the BBC movies verses the newer ones. As I said previously, in general, I like the portrayals of the characters in the BBC movies better than those in the newer movies, because the former are, overall, closer to the characters in Lewis' books. But Peter and Caspian (especially Peter) are the ones who really stand out in this way!

I rather liked the BBC's Puddleglum. True, it's the only adaptation of the marshwiggle that we have, but Tom Baker in general is a fine actor and I liked what he did with it.

I don't really recall any other actors or actresses that I liked. I haven't seen it in awhile, admittedly, and as such it's hard to tell where to draw the line between an acting problem and a scripting problem... maybe Jill, or perhaps LotGK. Jill at least fit my mental image of her.

I rather liked the BBC's Puddleglum. True, it's the only adaptation of the marshwiggle that we have, but Tom Baker in general is a fine actor and I liked what he did with it.

I don't really recall any other actors or actresses that I liked. I haven't seen it in awhile, admittedly, and as such it's hard to tell where to draw the line between an acting problem and a scripting problem... maybe Jill, or perhaps LotGK. Jill at least fit my mental image of her.

Agreed on both accounts. Puddleglum was great, as was Jill. They really both fit my mental picture. Jill's face and appearance were especially spot on for me. I don't remember the movie as well as I'd like since it's been awhile, but I remember the scene on the cliffs being especially memorable. That was one of my favorite parts in the books, and it was exciting to see it portrayed on the big screen. I love Jill's interaction with Aslan, though it's hard to put into words exactly why I do. I don't completely get the scene, which is probably why I like it; there's so much to figure out about it. Jill's initial fear of Aslan was interesting to see, as it's a contrast to Lucy's close relationship with him. (However, I'm not sure if fear is the right word—maybe respect?) I've often wondered why Aslan was so aloof and stern. At any rate, that scene embodied the untame side of Aslan. "He's not tame, but he is good." (Though I much prefer Lucy's close relationship to Aslan than anything else.)

Rilian in the BBC adaptation wasn't so accurate to how I pictured him, but that's all right. There are hit and misses when it comes to movie casting, and Rilian really pulled off the half-crazed attitude. Despite the fact that he didn't fit my mental picture, the movie Rilian really brought his character to life for me, so I think that BBC did a fine job of casting him after all.

Overall, that's the way it was for the entire Silver Chair movie: it didn't fit what I pictured, but many aspects of it brought the book to life in a whole new way for me. So in that respect, it was awesome.

I agree that BBC Susan was better - and a big portion of that was the script - Walden's Susan was ALWAYS complaining or scolding. And Book Susan wasn't like that. Anna did a fine job of acting, but she just didn't have the right material to work with. Walden's Susan comes across as harsh in a lot of scenes - and Susan is supposed to be concerned, not harsh.

I also agree with Peter and Caspian being better in the BBC - again, it is mainly the script.

Interestingly enough - I liked Walden's Eustace more. Mainly because Will was able to capture that bratty personality better - and where that is concerned he had a better script for his character. The line "Note to self, investigate legal ramifications of impaling one's relatives" is a perfect fit for Eustace - sums up his character nicely.

The one portrayal that I didn't care for in either production was Aslan. In the BBC's - he sounds tired or bored. And in Walden's, he sounds somewhat bored also. But my biggest complaint is that the voice isn't deep and earthy enough. I like Liam Neeson in other things I've seen him in, but his voice isn't right for Aslan. Aslan needs to sound more like James Earl Jones (but not him because everyone would hear Darth Vader), but a deep voice like that.

Interestingly enough for me, a lot of it depended on the individual Walden movie, and to delve even further, it was definitely affected by the accuracy of the adaptation more so than the person who was cast.

If I overlook adaptation accuracy, I prefer pretty much all of the Walden cast. Definitely the Pevensies and Eustace. I liked Ben Barnes as Caspian better than Jean Marc Perret (PC Caspian) but it's a tossup between Ben and Samuel West (VDT Caspian). The White Witch and Miraz handily go to Walden. But once you get past the majority of main characters and into the minor characters, then BBC starts winning.

~Professor Kirke
~Tumnus is a tie. I loved both versions.
~Trumpkin
~Nikabrik
~Most everyone in VDT except for Drinian. (Maybe because they actually had roles in the BBC version.)

But there was one big character where I preferred the BBC version of, and that was Aslan, scary animatronics and all. I dunno, maybe because I watched the BBC version when I was young, that sound and behavior seared into my brain as how Aslan should sound and act. So I do prefer Ronald Pickup to Liam Neeson.

I'll save who I prefer in each movie when adaptation is included for a later post...

Jill Pole, I know we haven't seen her in the Walden movies yet but the actress who played her in the BBC was obviously born to play Jill Pole accurately. She was how I pictured her when I read the book, lookwise and personality wise and when I watched Silver Chair it was like rereading the book again how I actually pictured it. Camilla was awesome.

I tend to agree that Jill Pole in the BBC version, Puddleglum and just about all the characters are my favourites in the Silver Chair movie, all the more so since there isn't another version and at least we have that portrayal, which is a long way better than the nothing we have for either Walden or BBC in portrayals of HHB, MN & LB.

The two exceptions in SC were the BBC Eustace and the BBC Prince Caspian, brought back to Silver Chair in that BBC film. Why didn't they get Samuel West to do that return at the end of the film? I much prefer both Ben Barnes' Prince Caspian and Samuel West's VDT King Caspian to the BBC PC Caspian. Though the suspicion etc between Peter and Caspian irked others, I didn't like that BBC Prince Caspian was so much younger than BBC Peter. Nor did I like the passive way that BBC Edmund failed to back up Lucy.

I also think that maybe Will Poulter was a better Eustace in VDT than was David Thwaites in VDT, and would very likely have been a better Eustace in Silver Chair as well. Also, in my view, Barbara Kellerman put in a better performance as BBC's LOTGK than she did as BBC's Jadis the White Witch. And I preferred the Walden Hag to the BBC hag in those respective Prince Caspian versions.

I haven't seen the BBC version yet. I'll have to see it, but I have a feeling that I'll always like Walden's version of Narnia better. I know that sounds weird that I say that when I've never seen BBC's version, but there's something about the Narnia films that distinguish them from all other movies imo. (Not that there haven't been other good movies). I think it's becasue it has everything that I look for in a good movie series. They've held a favorite place for me ever since I saw TLTWATW in Christmas 2005. I know Susan was serious, but I really liked her courage. She knew what she wanted, she fought really well in the PC battle. I also think the animnal characters were well done, especially Aslan, the fox, and Trufflehunter.

I liked Reepicheep! To me, he seemed better captured in BBC than in Walden. Granted, I did like the scene in Walden of him comforting Eustace the dragon (BBC doesn't have that scene) but that is more a movie-making comment than regarding the actual actor.
Also, I really liked Eustace. Personally, I thought that BBC captured him more as I pictured him than Walden did. Having said that, Will Poulter is an amazing actor.
And for more minor (though still important) characters, I thought that the BBC Lord Bern, Governor Gumpas, and Ramandu's daughter were very much like the book.

I'm a big fan of the BBC Peter. I like how he's the smallest in stature of the siblings. It adds a whole new dimension to the story instead of having him be the typically biggest and strongest and he comes off as a very chivalrous character instead of the more traditional hero-type of Walden's Peter.

From what I can remember of it, I can agree that Peter and Caspian in the BBC version were indeed much better than how they were portrayed in Walden PC. Instead of adding the extra drama, they worked together to conquer Miraz.

I can admit even Aslan was excellent in the series. Unlike the films, the BBC adaptation demonstrated and clearly showed Aslan was the true hero of Narnia, not the children. I'll admit the voice and puppet wasn't the best, but it's the writing that counts.

If I overlook adaptation accuracy...

Ditto to that statement:

Overall, I prefer the Walden cast as well. They had a bit more depth probably due to the way acting has changed over the years since the production of the BBC versions. The casting in the BBC was fine except for putting Kellerman into too many roles. I know Warwick Davis was also cast in multiple roles, but he did a better job of altering his acting between roles than Kellerman did.

But I do like the age change between the PC Caspian and the VDT Caspian in the BBC version. I also really enjoyed watching the BBC VDT alot due to the older Caspian in the series. Ben Barnes has been great, but without the age change, the shift between prince and king just wasn't the same.

As they haven't but out an SC, I can't exactly compare any of the characters there.