FX and the BBC have set the cast for their adaptation of Dickens’ Great Expectations, headed by Olivia Colman at the top of the call sheet.

The Oscar and Emmy winner (The Favourite, The Crown) will play Miss Havisham in the six-part limited series.

Fionn Whitehead (Dunkirk, Black Mirror: Bandersnatch) will play Pip; the cast also includes Ashley Thomas, Johnny Harris, Shalom Brune-Franklin, Hayley Squires, Owen McDonnell, Trystan Gravelle and Matt Berry. Production began this week in London.

Great Expectations is the second recent Dickens adaptation for FX and the BBC, following the three-part A Christmas Carol in 2019.

Photo: David Lean’s Version

Like that series, Great Expectations is being written by Steven Knight. The two outlets also plan for more miniseries based on Dickens’ works.

Thomas (Amazon’s Them, The Night Of) plays Jaggers. Harris (A Christmas Carol) plays Magwitch. Brune-Franklin (Line of Duty) will play Estella. Squires (Apple’s The Essex Serpent) will play Sara. McDonnell (Killing Eve) plays Joe. Gravelle (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power) plays Compeyson. Berry (What We Do in the Shadows) will pay Mr. Pumblechuck.

BBC director of drama Piers Wenger and chief content officer Charlotte Moore commissioned the series along with FX. Knight executive produces with Tom Hardy, Ridley Scott, Dean Baker, David W. Zucker, Kate Crowe and Mona Qureshi for the BBC.