Steven Knight's Great Expectations gets a release date

Peaky Blinder's creator Steven Knight's adaptation of Charles Dickens' literary masterpiece Great Expectations has set a premiere date on Hulu. The FX and BBC six-part limited series will premiere exclusively on March 26 on Hulu, and the first two episodes will be out on that day. The announcement was made by FX on February 7, Charles Dickens' 211th birth anniversary. 

In the UK and internationally, Great Expectations will be aired by the BBC. It will be available to stream on Star+ in Latin America and on Disney+ under the Star banner at a later date. 

The coming-of-age tale of Pip, an orphan who longs for a better lot in life, is told in Great Expectations. A twist of fate and the wicked schemes of the enigmatic and eccentric Miss Havisham reveal to him a dark world of possibilities. Pip will have to determine the true cost of this new world and whether it will actually make him the man he aspires to be in light of the high expectations that have been put on him. Dickens' work, a satire of the class structure, was initially published in a series of weekly chapters starting in December 1860. It was finally published in 1861.

While Fionn Whitehead plays Pip, Olivia Colman will be seen as Miss Havisham. The rest of the cast includes Shalom Brune-Franklin, Ashley Thomas, Johnny Harris, Hayley Squires, Owen McDonnell, Trystan Gravelle, Laurie Ogden, Rudi Dharmalingam, Tom Sweet, Chloe Lea and Matt Berry.

While Steven Knight has written the script for Great Expectations, he is also executive producing the series alongside Tom Hardy, Ridley Scott, Dean Baker, David W. Zucker and Kate Crowe. Brady Hood and Samira Radsi serve as directors. Great Expectations is produced by FX Productions in association with the BBC, Scott Free and Hardy Son & Baker.