Great Expectations

Editorial

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Drama: Classic & Period

Orphan Pip's life changes forever when he meets wealthy Miss Havisham and her daughter.

A twist of fate shows Pip a dark world of possibilities, but is he willing to pay the price? Steven Knight's chilling take on the Dickens classic, starring Olivia Colman.

Series 1

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Fionn Whitehead

Shalom Brune-Franklin

Olivia Colman

Ashley Thomas

Johnny Harris

Trystan Gravelle

Rudi Dharmalingam

Matthew Needham

Owen McDonnell

Hayley Squires

Steven Knight

Brady Hood

Mark Kinsella

Minim UK Productions

Great Expectations: Series 1: Episode 3

Episode 3

BBC One - Great Expectations, Series 1, Episode 3

Pip is thrown to the beasts of London, while Estella discovers a plan for her future.

Having left his life in Gravesend, Pip has a brutal introduction to life working for Mr Jaggers. Meanwhile Estella discovers a plan of Miss Havisham’s.

Devastated at being denied entrance to Satis House, Pip is found in a sorry state by Mr Jaggers, who tells him he has been sent by Miss Havisham and Miss Estella. In fact, Estella doesn't want Pip to go with Mr Jaggers, but Pip knows nothing of this and is instead wowed by the worldly presence of Jaggers and the offer he provides: a cheque for £5,000, an apartment in London and a position in his legal chambers. 

Walking through the deserted corridors of the Old Bailey, Pip cannot help but be awed by the grandeur and meaning of the place, until they enter the judge’s chambers and find him hanging by the neck, no longer able to endure Jaggers’s blackmail. Overwhelmed and out of his depth, there is nothing Pip can do. Jaggers then leaves Pip in the hands of his assistant, Mr Wemmick. A plain-speaking clerk, Wemmick takes Pip to his new lodgings, which he will be sharing with Herbert Pocket. Wemmick tells Pip that Estella is due to be married to a very respectable man. 

While Pip tries to adjust to life in London, in Australia, Magwitch has managed to track down Compeyson. They fight and Magwitch is left for dead in the Australian outback as Compeyson rides off to find passage back to England.

Back in Gravesend, those who Pip left behind are thrilled to receive letters telling of his new life. However, Estella knows nothing of her upcoming nuptials until she reads of them in Pip’s letter. Jaggers introduces Pip to the repellent Mr Drummle, the man who is soon to be married to Estella.  If Pip will help Jaggers to ruin Drummle’s business, then Estella may be freed from her engagement.

Great Expectations: Series 1

BBC One

Once poor, orphaned Pip meets wealthy Miss Havisham and her daughter Estella, his life changes forever. Thrown into the dangerous city of London, he must battle to control his fate.

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