Fionn Whitehead (Black Mirror: Bandersnatch), Olivia Colman (The Crown), Shalom Brune-Franklin (The Tourist), Ashley Thomas (The Ipcress File), Johnny Harris (Fortitude), Hayley Squires (The Essex Serpent), Owen McDonnell ( Killing Eve), Trystan Gravelle (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power), Laurie Ogden (The Show Must Go Online), Rudi Dharmalingam (The Split), Tom Sweet (Gunpowder), Chloe Lea (Foundation (2021)) and Matt Berry (What We Do in the Shadows) star in Steven Knight's (photo, Peaky Blinders) series.
FX revealed more about the series in a press release:
"Today, on Charles Dickens' birthday, FX has set the premiere date for Great Expectations, Steven Knight's limited series adaptation of Dickens' classic. A poster of the series was also released today.
The six-part series from FX and BBC premieres Sunday, March 26 exclusively on Hulu in the US and includes the first two episodes. Great Expectations is being produced in conjunction with the BBC, who will broadcast the series in the UK. Internationally, it will be available to stream on Star+ in Latin America and on Disney+ under the Star banner at a later date.
The recently released poster, in the style of FX and Steven Knight, features one of literature's most iconic characters, Miss Havisham trapping her pawns, Pip and Estella, with the headdress she still wears of her wedding that never took place. Entangled in Miss Havisham's bitter web are memorable elements of the story, including the dilapidated Satis House, clocks that stop at twenty minutes to nine, and the prison ship and shackles that lead Magwitch to Pip, which tell the story of Dickens' beloved Great Expectations begins.
Great Expectations is the coming-of-age story of Pip, an orphan who yearns for a greater destiny in life, until a twist of fate and the evil machinations of the mysterious and eccentric Miss Havisham show him a dark world of possibilities. . Under the great expectations placed on him, Pip will have to figure out the true cost of this new world and whether it will really make him the man he wants to be. Dickens's novel, a scathing critique of the class system, was published in 1861, having first been published in a series of weekly chapters from December 1860.
Fionn Whitehead plays Pip and leads an all-star cast that includes Olivia Colman as Miss Havisham, Shalom Brune-Franklin, Ashley Thomas, Johnny Harris, Hayley Squires, Owen McDonnell, Trystan Gravelle, Laurie Ogden, Rudi Dharmalingam, Tom Sweet, Chloe Lea and Matt Berry.
Knight is a writer and executive producer alongside Tom Hardy, Ridley Scott, Dean Baker, David W. Zucker and Kate Crowe. Brady Hood (The One) and Samira Radsi (Sex/Life (2021)) serve as directors. Great Expectations is produced by FX Productions in association with the BBC, Scott Free and Hardy Son & Baker."