Produced by FX Productions in association with the BBC, Scott Free and Hardy Son & Baker, Great Expectations is the coming-of-age story of Pip (Fionn Whitehead), an orphan who yearns for a greater lot in life until a twist of fate introduces him to the mysterious and eccentric Miss Havisham (Olivia Colman) and Estella (Shalom Brune-Franklin), showing him a dark world of possibilities. Under the great expectations placed upon him, Pip will have to work out the cost of this new world and whether it will truly make him the man he wishes to be.
Steven Knight has written and executive produced Great Expectations alongside Tom Hardy (A Christmas Carol, Inception), Ridley Scott (The Martian, Blade Runner), Dean Baker (Taboo, Trophy), David W. Zucker (The Good Fight, The Man in the High Castle), Kate Crowe (Misfits, You Don’t Know Me) and Tommy Bulfin (Peaky Blinders, The Tourist) for the BBC – the team behind FX’s A Christmas Carol – with Brady Hood (Top Boy, The One) and Samira Radsi (Holiday Secrets, Knightfall) as directors.
Great Expectations is the second Dickens adaptation penned by Knight, following the hit limited series A Christmas Carol.
Who's in the Great Expectations cast?
Alongside Olivia Colman, Fionn Whitehead and Shalom Brune-Franklin, Great Expectations will also star Ashley Thomas (Top Boy, The Ipcress File), Johnny Harris (A Christmas Carol, The Salisbury Poisonings), Hayley Squires (Call the Midwife, The Essex Serpent), Owen McDonnell (Killing Eve, Death in Paradise), Laurie Ogden (The Colour Room, The Show Must Go Online), Matt Berry (The IT Crowd, Snuff Box), Trystan Gravelle (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Baptiste) and Rudi Dharmalingam (The Split, Our Girl).
When will Great Expectations be on the BBC?
The series will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK. Broadcast details will be announced in due course.