David Copperfield (1956 TV serial)

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox television

| image = David_Copperfield_(1956_TV_serial).jpg

| caption = Radio Times cover, September 1956

| genre = Period drama

| based_on = {{based on|David Copperfield|Charles Dickens}}

| screenplay = Vincent Tilsley

| director = Stuart Burge

| starring = Robert Hardy
Sonia Dresdel
Richard Goolden

| theme_music_composer =

| open_theme =

| end_theme =

| composer =

| country = United Kingdom

| language = English

| num_episodes = 13 (all missing)

| list_episodes =

| executive_producer =

| producer = Douglas Allen

| editor = Eddie Wallstab (filmed inserts)

| location =

| cinematography =

| camera =

| runtime = 30 minutes

| company =

| channel = BBC tv

| first_aired = {{Start date|1956|09|28|df=y}}

| last_aired = {{End date|1956|12|21|df=y}}

| related =

}}

David Copperfield is a 1956 BBC Television adaptation of Charles Dickens's 1850 novel, serialised in 13 episodes.{{Cite web|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/97f227966e3b4a1d978e80cf96f1045b|title=David Copperfield: Episode 1|date=September 28, 1956|issue=1715|pages=44|via=BBC Genome}}{{Cite web|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7daeb1bc|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210117001007/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7daeb1bc|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 January 2021|title=David Copperfield Episode 13 (1956)|website=BFI}}

No recordings of this production are known to exist.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QkpGDwAAQBAJ&q=david+copperfield+1956+bbc&pg=PT61|title=Television Cities: Paris, London, Baltimore|first=Charlotte|last=Brunsdon|date=January 19, 2018|publisher=Duke University Press|isbn=9780822372516|via=Google Books}}

Although little is known of this version, it is said to have been remarkably similar to the 1966 BBC adaptation made almost a decade later, which was also written by Vincent Tilsley. It is also significant for being the first Dickens adaptation by the BBC for television.