Book description
Charles Dickens died half way through writing
The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and ever since speculation
has been rife as to how the tale might have unfolded.
For this intriguing two-part adaptation for BBC2, for prime-time
January 2012, acclaimed screenwriter Gwyneth Hughes (Five Days,
Miss Austen Regrets) scoured the text for clues indicating how
the great author might have finished this masterpiece, and has drawn
from those leads a seamless, compelling and surprisingly modern story
of obsessive love, betrayal and murder.
This tie-in edition of Dickens's unfinished text will also include
an Afterword by Gwyneth Hughes, offering her own conclusion, and
revealing how she knitted the strands from the original plot and her
own work together to bring the book to a satisfying close.
Key cast list: Matthew Rhys (Brothers & Sisters) as John Jasper;
Rory Kinnear (Hamlet, Women In Love, Lennon Naked) as Reverend
Septimus Crisparkle; Freddie Fox (Worried About The Boy, The Shadow
Line) as Edwin Drood; Tamzin Merchant (Jane Eyre, Miranda, The Tudors)
plays Rosa Bud; Alun Armstrong (New Tricks, Garrow's Law) as Hiram
Grewgious, Rosa's guardian; Julia McKenzie (Cranford, Miss Marple)
plays the Reverend's mother, Mrs Crisparkle; David Dawson (Luther, The
Road To Coronation Street) as Bazzard; Ron Cook (Little Dorrit) as
Durdles; Sacha Dhawan (Five Days 2) as Neville Landless; Amber Rose
Revah (House Of Saddam) plays Helena Landless, Neville's twin sister;
Ian McNeice (Doctor Who) as Mayor Sapsea; Janet Dale (Holby; Casualty)
as Miss Twinkleton; Ellie Haddington (Luther) as Princess Puffer; and
young Alfie Davis plays Deputy.
Charles Dickens was born on 7 February 1812. He enjoyed his first
commercial success with
The Pickwick Papers
in 1836, swiftly followed by the serialization of
Oliver Twist
a year later. By the publication of
The Old Curiosity Shop
in 1841, Dickens was internationally famous.
The Mystery of Edwin
Drood
was scheduled to be published in 1870 in 12 installments but Dickens had
finished only 6 installments at the time of his death. His novels, many
now adapted for TV and film, continue to entertain readers all over the
world.
