Olivia Colman is the Miss Havisham of Our Dreams in the 'Great Expectations' Teaser
Between The Crown, The Favourite, The Lost Daughter, Les Miserables, Broadchurch, Landscapers, Empire of Light, and at least a half dozen other major film and television titles in recent years, it's glaringly evident that Emmy, BAFTA, and Oscar-winning actress Olivia Colman is one of the best performers working today. So it probably should come as no surprise that she's now set to tackle one of literature's most famous roles, starring as the infamous Miss Havisham in the BBC's latest take on Charles Dickens' classic Great Expectations.
This new adaptation hails from Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, the man who also made the weirdly dark and gritty version of A Christmas Carol that starred Guy Pearce and was a lot more holiday horror than Yuletide fluff. So, on the surface, it's fun to wonder what he might do with a Dickens story that's actually a grim dark take about class divides and an overbearing misandrist who's never gotten over being left at the altar. Whether we need another adaptation of Great Expectations is a fair question (2012 and 2013 saw both a three-part miniseries starring Gillian Anderson and a feature film with Helena Bonham Carter). Still, if anyone's going to have something new to say about this age-old tale, Knight is as likely a candidate as any.
Colman's involvement certainly doesn't hurt. An actress who has brought the same tireless tenacity and quiet vulnerability to real-life queens and fictional detectives, it's clear that her Miss Havisham will, at the very least, be interesting to watch. And while neither the BBC (nor FX, whose Hulu streaming vertical will be the series' American home) has released much about the show itself, this first teaser cuts straight to the chase.
