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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Entertainment
Katie Rosseinsky

Steven Knight set to adapt Great Expectations for BBC with Tom Hardy as executive producer

Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight is set to adapt Great Expectations for the BBC.

Knight, who previously adapted Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol for the broadcaster, will reunite with executive producers Tom Hardy and Ridley Scott for the six-part limited series.

His take on the classic novel will also air on FX in the United States.

Knight said that the coming-of-age story, which follows blacksmith’s son Pip into high society and charts his infatuation with the icy Estella, the ward of Miss Havisham, is “a very special one” for him.

Knight previously adapted A Christmas Carol, with Guy Pearce pictured as Scrooge (BBC/Scott Free/FX Networks)

“Adapting Dickens’ work is a delight,” he said. “I chose ‘Great Expectations’ as the next work to bring to the screen not just because of the timeless characters, but also because of the very timely story.

“A story of class mobility and class intransigence, told through an intensely emotional and personal first person narrative.

“As the son of a blacksmith myself, Pip’s journey from the forge into society is a very special one to me.”

Dean Baker, David W. Zucker, Kate Crowe and Mona Qureshi, who worked on A Christmas Carol, will also serve as executive producers, with Marina Brackenbury as co-executive producer.

The BBC’s director of content Charlotte Moore said: "Great Expectations is the second in Steven Knight's series of Dickens adaptations and the perfect choice given its timely and personal narrative.

“His original take on one of Britain's most loved classics will make it must see drama for a whole new generation."

The BBC most recently brought Dickens' classic to the small screen in 2011, with Douglas Booth playing Pip and Gillian Anderson as Miss Havisham.

Knight’s adaptation of A Christmas Carol aired in December last year and drew in an audience of 7.8 million.

He first teamed up with Hardy and Scott on Taboo, a mystery drama which aired on BBC One in 2017.

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