FX Announces 'Great Expectations' Debut Date For Dickens' Birthday

Charles Dickens may not quite have the sheer span of centuries as Shakespeare does, but as one of England’s most famous writers, his estate isn’t letting a little thing like “born ~200 years after Shakespeare died” get in the way of that. Give us a couple hundred more Christmases, and there will probably be about 400 more Christmas Carols adaptations. Though that is the most well-known of Dickens’ works, there are at least two dozen more to cover. For his 211 birthday, FX announced the debut date for Great Expectations, while Concourse Media announced Australian filmmaker Luke Sparke is set to direct the Dickens mashup epic adventure Shadow Chasers.

Great Expectations has been on the radar since it was announced in early 2022 as a joint venture between the BBC and FX. Most assumed it would aim for Christmas since the last FX and BBC Dickens co-production was A Christmas Carol. However, Christmas came and went without any news, and FX chairman John Landgraf seemed to think the BBC was waiting until summer to debut the series, which FX will air day and date on Hulu. However, it seems the wait won’t be quite that long, as BBC One (and therefore FX) will debut the series on Sunday, March 26, 2023.

For fans of Dickens, the title Shadow Chasers will be confusing, as it does not match any of the titles of his novels or short stories. Instead, the film is a “modern and fresh take,” which mashes up Charles Dickens’ most famous works. It will include notable characters like A Christmas Carol’s Ebenezer Scrooge and Jacob Marley, who team up with the titular character from Oliver Twist and a teenaged Dickens to save London from a supernatural threat.