The cast of Great Expectations front this week’s Radio Times cover
Olivia Colman, Fionn Whitehead and Shalom Brune-Franklin star in this new take on Charles Dickens from Peaky Blinders’ Steven Knight.
It's been a bruising couple of weeks for the BBC. Whatever you think of its handling of the Gary Lineker furore, or its decision to scrap the Singers, there are still things it does brilliantly, among them producing thrilling dramatisations of literary classics.
This week, the BBC serves up a new version of Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations. Few novels lend themselves to the screen better, from the mists of the Kentish marshes and the roar of the blacksmith’s forge, to the spectral surroundings of Miss Havisham’s mansion and the gilded opulence of Pip’s new life. Such imagery is, of course, a gift to a filmmaker, not least one of Steven Knight’s rich pedigree.
Knight created Peaky Blinders, where he combined rock music with period costume in a stylish story of Birmingham hoodlums. Now, he’s tackling Great Expectations and as he tells us: "The book is an unassailable object that will exist beyond any interpretation I ever make," which doesn’t stop him from finding material to indulge his imagination.
Read our interview with Knight, then watch the first episode of one of the finest costume dramas we have seen this year. We think you’ll agree it’s a reminder of the BBC at its very best.
The other TV event of the week is on All4 and Channel 4 where Bear Grylls meets President Zelensky. As Grylls tells us, getting into Kyiv was alarming enough, but what did he discover when he arrived? Find out in this week’s issue.
Also in this week’s Radio Times:
- Sisters Oti and Motsi Mabuse on African history being “erased”, how DNA Journey is “the best thing” they have done, and the challenges of being black in South Africa
- Actor Jason Watkins and his wife Clara discuss the tragic death of their three-year-old daughter from sepsis and how the hospital mistook it for croup
- John Boyega talks to us about bringing humanity to the role of a potential terrorist, the return of Attack the Block, and why he would love to be in Doctor Who
- Speaking to The Radio Times Podcast, Penn Badgley on his son accidentally seeing him in character in You, the toll of playing a serial killer, and why he now wants fewer sex scenes
Great Expectations airs on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from Sunday 26th March.
If you're looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide and Streaming Guide or visit our Drama hub for more news and features.
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