Shropshire Star

Olivia Colman to star in BBC adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations

A series of adaptations of Dickens’ novels have been commissioned by the BBC.

Published
Supporting image for story: Olivia Colman to star in BBC adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations
Olivia Colman

Olivia Colman is to star in the BBC adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic novel Great Expectations.

The Oscar-winning actress, 48, will play wealthy spinster Miss Havisham in the coming-of-age story about an orphan nicknamed Pip.

The six-part series will be created by Bafta-winning writer Steven Knight and is based on Dickens’ tale, which was first released as a series of weekly chapters beginning in 1860 before it was later published as a novel.

The cast will also feature Fionn Whitehead as Pip, alongside Ashley Thomas, Johnny Harris, Shalom Brune-Franklin, Hayley Squires, Owen McDonnell, Trystan Gravelle and Matt Berry.

The series will also be executive produced by the team which was behind the BBC’s 2019 adaptation of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol – Knight, actor Tom Hardy, Sir Ridley Scott, Dean Baker, David W Zucker, Kate Crowe and Mona Qureshi.

Lucy Forbes, who has previously worked on This Is Going To Hurt, will act as lead director, with Mark Kinsella as producer.

Great Expectations and A Christmas Carol are the first two in a series of adaptations of Dickens’ novels that have been commissioned by the BBC and FX Productions.