Episode 12 of Little Dorrit

Little Dorrit Ep 12/14
Thursday 4 December
8.00-8.30pm BBC ONE

Read more for synopsis (spoilers)

Mr Dorrit returns to England with the newlyweds, Fanny and Sparkler, as the Dickensian drama continues. He is overawed by the splendour of the Merdle house and deeply flattered when Mr Merdle offers to help him invest his fortune.

Arthur also decides to invest the capital of Doyce and Clennam in Merdle's bank. He has big ambitions for the business and persuades Doyce of the need for expansion. Worried by the suspicion surrounding his mother's house over the disappearance of Rigaud, he commissions Pancks to find Miss Wade, in the hope that she can lead him to Rigaud.

Mr Dorrit meanwhile is greatly enjoying his new role in London society as the distinguished guest and friend of Mr Merdle. This, he feels, is the life he was born to. But the shadow of the Marshalsea Debtors' Prison is long and when faces from the old days begin to reappear, reminding him of the times he would rather forget, matters take a turn for the worse. Perhaps he would be safer in Italy after all...