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Peaky Blinders boss shares first look at Olivia Colman in BBC's Great Expectations

Photo credit: Jeff Spicer - Getty Images
Photo credit: Jeff Spicer - Getty Images

Actress Olivia Colman breathes life into the iconic role of Miss Havisham in two new first-look photos from Steven Knight's upcoming adaptation of Great Expectations.

Peaky Blinders boss Knight has adapted the classic novel by Charles Dickens into a six-part limited series for BBC and FX, telling the coming-of-age story of an orphan nicknamed Pip, who's played here by Fionn Whitehead (Black Mirror: Bandersnatch).

This marks Knight's second Dickens adaptation for the channel and in the two preview images below, it's evident that Knight has managed to replicate that grand dustiness he so perfectly conjured in 2019's A Christmas Carol too.

Photo credit: BBC
Photo credit: BBC

Alongside Colman as Miss Havisham and Whitehead as Pip, the series also stars Shalom Brune-Franklin (The Tourist) as Miss Havisham's adopted daughter Estella.

Also appearing in supporting roles are Matt Berry (What We Do in the Shadows), Ashley Thomas (Top Boy), Rudi Dharmalingam (The Lazarus Project), Johnny Harris (This is England '86), Hayley Squires (The Essex Serpent), Owen McDonnell (Killing Eve) and Trystan Gravelle (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power).

For Oscar royalty Colman, Miss Havisham is a meaty role indeed. The character is a wealthy and eccentric spinster who has worn her wedding dress since the day she was jilted at the altar.

She takes Pip on as a companion for herself and her adopted daughter, Estella, but she hates all men and encourages Estella to torment and spurn men too, including Pip, who loves her.

Photo credit: BBC
Photo credit: BBC

This isn't the only big project that Knight has been working on recently either, as back in February, Knight revealed that his upcoming Peaky Blinders movie had a host of big names just lining up to have their moment opposite Cillian Murphy's Tommy Shelby.

"There are so many people, so many great actors, that we are already, sort of, in conversation with for the film, and for whatever follows," he explained.

"But I think what we want to do is keep surprising people, and keep breaking new talent. Because it's all out there, and there is a sort of consistency – what we're doing is finding really good actors from a working-class sort of background, and telling that story. That's what we're trying to do."

Great Expectations will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK.

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