FX, BBC Set to Adapt Charles Dickens’ ‘Great Expectations’ from ‘Peaky Blinders’ Creator

“Peaky Blinders” creator Steven Knight is to pen a six-part adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic novel “Great Expectations” for the BBC and FX, with Ridley Scott and Tom Hardy on board as executive producers.

“Great Expectations” is the second Dickens adaptation penned by Knight, following BBC and FX’s three-part series “A Christmas Carol.”

Knight will write and executive produce “Great Expectations” (6 x 60′), which will also be executive produced by Scott, Hardy, Dean Baker, David W. Zucker, Kate Crowe and Mona Qureshi for the BBC — the same team behind “A Christmas Carol.”

“Great Expectations” will be produced by FX Productions in association with the BBC, Scott’s production banner Scott Free and Hardy’s production outfit Hardy Son & Baker.

“Great Expectations” is the coming-of-age story of orphan Pip. The novel has been brought to the screen many times before, including as feature adaptations by directors Mike Newell in 2012 (pictured), Alfonso Cuarón in 1998 and David Lean in 1946.

The BBC last adapted the book in an acclaimed 2011 version with a cast including Ray Winstone, David Suchet, Douglas Booth and Gillian Anderson.

“Great Expectations” and “A Christmas Carol” are the first two in a series of adaptations of Dickens’ novels, commissioned by Piers Wenger, controller of BBC Drama, and Charlotte Moore, director of BBC Content, alongside FX, and produced with FX Productions.

The BBC and FX also produced drama series “Taboo,” starring Hardy, written and produced by Knight alongside producers Scott, Tom Hardy, Chips Hardy, Dean Baker and Kate Crowe.

Knight said: “I chose ‘Great Expectations’ as the next work to bring to the screen not just because of the timeless characters, but also because of the very timely story. A story of class mobility and class intransigence, told through an intensely emotional and personal first person narrative. As the son of a blacksmith myself, Pip’s journey from the forge into society is a very special one to me.”