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.
🚨 Casting's been announced for Steven Knight’s adaptation of Great Expectations for the @BBC and we NEED to talk about how brilliant the line-up is.More here ➡️ https://t.co/bV3LPFOFdx pic.twitter.com/94gELg2mcT
— BBC Press Office (@bbcpress) February 17, 2022
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.