Great Expectations for PBS and BBC One

On: December 8, 2011,  By: Bill Young

Great Expectations, one of Charles Dickens’ greatest novels, has a 2012 airdate as part of PBS’ Masterpiece series. The two-part series will premiere April 1, 2012 on PBS stations across the U.S., with the conclusion of the most recent adaptation scheduled the following Sunday, April 8, both at 8p CT/9p ET. This version of Great Expectations, the fifth by the BBC since 1959, has all the makings of being classic television as evidenced by the initial trailer just released by the BBC in advance of the scheduled UK broadcast in late December on BBC One.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlR1ll0exBg

The mini-series features an all-star cast with Gillian Anderson (The X-Files) as Miss Havisham, David Suchet (Poirot) as Jaggers, Ray Winstone (Sexy Beast) as Magwitch and Douglas Booth (Worried About the Boy) as Pip. Sarah Phelps, who adapted Oliver Twist for the Beeb in 2007 has written the newest incarnation. Dickens’ Great Expectations will be one of a number of scheduled programs in 2012 that will be broadcast on both PBS and the BBC as part of international celebration marking the 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens’ birth,

In: Drama

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  • Although this doesn’t come until Spring, I am very excited to spend some of these colder month evenings curled up on the couch enjoying many a Masterpiece.

  • Bandit Queen

    Just seen the masterpiece Great Expectations and I am surprised not to find more behind the scenes sites and locations on the net. I wanted to find out which great house they had used as the Salish House but they seem to have this as a state secret, which is ridiculous, when it could mean more income for the owner, should the house be open to the public.

    Why are film locations such a mystery? They are filmed well in advance of them being on TV, so why are we not allowed to explore the locations on line after enjoying the series earlier in the evening. I am not interested in the 1946 film, the 1997 version and so on, just the one I am watching now in December 2011!

    The casting is well done, the costumes are excellent and the spooky cobwebs made it all very dramatic. Great to see we do not have an old sow for Mrs Haversham and a more human and realistic Estella. Pip is also not the perfect being, but a liar and a thief and a pain in the neck, as well as a protective and expectant hero, who is bullied as a child and then rescued by a mystery benefactor. Great stuff. Pity the location is such a secret.

  • sandy sam

    I can confirm for you that the house of drummel and estella was Osterley park NT Berks