Olivia Colman will burst back onto screens on Sunday, Mach 26 as she takes on the role of Miss Havisham in Steven Knight's new Dickens adaptation on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. Viewers will get to tune in to see the Peaky Blinders creator's take on the classic tale that is Great Expectations.
The new series is expected to be a darker story than is usually pictured and comes only 12 years after the BBC's last adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic novel. The 2023 six-part drama stars Fionn Whitehead as Pip, Shalom Brune-Franklin as Estella, Ashley Thomas as Mr Jaggers and Johnny Harris as Magwitch. Meanwhile, Welsh actor Trystan Gravelle takes on the role of Compeyson.
A coming-of-age story, Great Expectations follows Pip, an orphan who yearns for a greater lot in life, until a twist of fate and the evil machinations of the mysterious and eccentric Miss Havisham show him a dark world of possibilities. Under the great expectations placed upon him, Pip will have to work out the true cost of this new world and whether it will truly make him the man he wishes to be. A damning critique of the class system, Dickens' novel was published in 1861 after first releasing it in a series of weekly chapters beginning in December 1860.
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Speaking about the adaptation, Steven Knight said: "I think that with any great writer like Dickens, the issues and the subjects that he deals with will always be timeless. They won’t be just of the time, they will be about the human condition. What I didn’t want to do – and I think Dickens never tried to do – was make something specifically political. He was never banging the drum, he was just saying ‘this is what’s going on’ and people could draw their own conclusions.
"You couldn’t write about certain things in Dickens’ time: certain elements of sexuality, crime, disobedience against the crown and state. What I tried to do was imagine if Dickens was writing the story now and had the freedom to go to those darker places, what would he do? If he had been liberated to write the things that were going on that he wasn’t allowed to write about."
Here's everything you need to know about Great Expectations 2023 including the start date, full cast list, filming locations and how many episodes there are. Read on for more.
When does Great Expectations start on BBC?
The new drama starts on BBC One and BBC iPlayer at 9pm on Sunday, March 26.
BBC Great Expectations full cast list
Fionn Whitehead – Pip
Shalom Brune-Franklin – Estella
Olivia Colman – Miss Havisham
Ashley Thomas – Mr Jaggers
Johnny Harris – Magwitch
Hayley Squires – Mrs Sara Gargery
Owen McDonnell – Mr Joe Gargery
Laurie Ogden – Biddy
Matt Berry – Mr Pumblechook
Tom Sweet – Young Pip
Trystan Gravelle – Compeyson
Rudi Dharmalingam – Wemmick
Chloe Lea - Young Estella
Bronte Carmichael - Young Biddy
BBC Great Expectations filming locations
London was extensively used as a location in the series but according to reports filming also took place in Oxfordshire, Surrey and Hampshire, Essex and Shrewsbury. According to Wiltshire Live, film crews were also spotted filming near Salisbury's Cathedral.
How many episodes of BBC Great Expectations are there?
There are six hour-long episodes in the series, with the second instalment airing on Sunday, April 2 at the same time on the same channel. For more showbiz and television stories get our newsletter here.
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