For it is my contention that most of the literary classics we see on television are generally too long, too slow, too samey, too costly and just too, too twee.
"[1] Russell wanted to make a literary adaptation that was low budget and done with a small crew.
Russell put forward 12 titles and they selected Treasure Island because it could be programmed as a Christmas movie.
To my way of thinking, this is one of the major flaws in the book and I feel I'm doing Robert Louis a favour in rectifying it.
"[2] Russell made a number of other changes including casting Long John Silver as a woman and making Jim more of a "scamp".