Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders) is set to write and executive produce the six-part limited series based around Dickens’ novel Great Expectations, according to The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline. This will be Knight’s second adoption of Dickens’ writing following A Christmas Carol in 2019, which generated 7.8 viewers for the series’ launch last holiday season. Knight will be teaming up again with his fellow A Christmas Carol and Taboo contributors including Ridley Scott (The Martian), Tom Hardy, Dean Baker, David W Zucker and Kate Crowe (Vital Signs).
Great Expectations is an emotional coming-of-age story surrounding an orphan nicknamed Pip. Dickens released sections of the story weekly beginning in December 1860, before eventually publishing it as a novel. The story has been adapted previously in film including a BBC/PBS series in 2011 and a feature from Mike Newell (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) in 2012.
Knight is a Dickens fan at heart and chose this work for his second adaptation as the story is “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,” he told The Hollywood Reporter.
Charlotte Moore, director of BBC content told Deadline Great Expectations is “the perfect choice given its timely and personal narrative. (Knight’s) original take on one of Britain’s most loved classics will make it must-see drama for a whole new generation.”
The show is set to be produced by FX Productions in association with the BBC also working with Mona Qureshi (Press), Scott Free and Hardy Son & Baker. Production is speculated to begin sometime next year.