Great Expectations: how many adaptations of classic Charles Dickens book are there - which is best?

The latest adaptation of the classic tale Great Expectations, released this month, from Top Boy director Brady Hood and starring Olivia Colman, has not gone over well with audiences or critics, though only the first episode has been released so far.

Peaky Blinders creator Steve Knight wrote the script, and he will have had his work cut out to find originality in adapting a more than 150 year old novel that has already been made into more than a dozen films and shows.

There have been 16 screen adaptations of Charles Dickens’ 1861 novel, the first coming more than a century ago. There are 10 films and six series retelling the story of the humble orphan Pip who suddenly becomes a gentleman with the help of an unknown benefactor.

What are the Great Expectations film adaptations?

The first film adaptation came way back in 1917 - the 50 minute silent film from Paramount Pictures had just seven cast members. The film has since been lost to time and is therefore unavailable to watch.

It was another 17 years until the next adaptation came, with the 1934 feature length movie, which saw several deviations in the characterisation of Miss Havisham. The next entry, made in 1946, is one of the most revered adaptations, although it is actually based on a stage play adapted from an abridged version of the novel.

Almost 30 years later, in 1974, the first colour adaptation was made - it is the first film with surviving members of the cast - Austin Powers star Michael York played Pip. In 1983 came the first animated adaptation, aimed at a younger audience and just 70 minutes in length. In 1987 Great Expectations: The Untold Story found fresh ground to cover, as the film featured Abel Magwitch as the protagonist, rather than Pip. 

A modernised film adaptation with an all-star cast including Ethan Hawke, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Robert De Niro, and directed by Alfonso Cuarón was made in 1998 and set in modern New York rather than 1820s London. The names of the main characters were also changed - Pip became Finn, Miss Havisham was Nora Dinsmoor and Abel Magwitch was renamed Arthur Lustig. The striking changes did not go over well with audiences and the film received mixed reviews.

Just one year later another TV movie adaptation aired on the BBC - the almost three-hour long film was more faithful to the novel, and featured a strong cast including Ioan Gruffudd as Pip, and Charlotte Rampling as Miss Havisham. Despite its length making it at times arduous, it remains one of the stronger and most accurate adaptations.

The latest, and arguably the best film adaptation came in 2012, featuring a fantastic cast that includes three Harry Potter stars - Ralph Fiennes (Magwitch), Helena Bonham-Carter (Miss Havisham), and Ralph Ineson (Sergeant), as well as Oscar-winning actress Sally Hawkins (Mrs. Joe). 

What are the Great Expectations TV adaptations?

Great Expectations was first adapted for TV in 1959 following a huge rise in the number of households that owned a television. This 13 part series and the later 10 part adaptation which came in 1967 did not leave much of a mark, proving considerably less popular than the 1946 film. 

Another serialisation was made in 1981, this time in colour and saw Colin Jeavons, who had played Herbert Pocket  in the 1959 series return in the role of Mr Wemmick. In 1989 another TV adaptation was made, making the 1980s the most Great Expectations-saturated decade in history. This was the first series to feature a big name cast, with Anthony Hopkins in the role of Magwitch, Jean Simmons as Miss Havisham, and John Rhys-Davies (Gimli in The Lord of the Rings) as Joe Gargery.  

After a more than two-decade hiatus another series aired in 2011 - with a remarkable and varied cast which included Ray Winstone, Ray Winstone, Gillian Anderson, and Mark Addy, this three part BBC series went down well with audiences, attracting more than 6 million viewers per episode.

The latest adaptation, which stars Olivia Colman, , Fionn Whiteheadand, and Matt Berry, was released this month and has already sparked controversy in some quarters. Writing for the Daily Mail, bemoaner in chief Peter Hitchens called the adaptation, which took some creative licence in its transformation for the screen, a ‘violation’. 

Thus far, despite its strong cast, the newest adaptation doesn’t seem to have found favour among critics or audiences - it has just a 35% fresh rating on review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, and paltry 22% audience score at the time of writing.

When is Great Expectations on TV?

The first episode of the 2023 series was released on BBC One on Sunday 26 March at 9pm. There are six episodes in the series and they will be released at the same time weekly, and will be available to watch on BBC iPlayer shortly after they have first aired.