Hugh Bonneville, Romola Garai, Hugh Dancy and Jodhi May star in
Daniel Deronda for BBC ONE
Hugh
Bonneville, Romola Garai, Hugh Dancy and Jodhi May star in Andrew
Davies' three-part adaptation of George Eliot's Daniel Deronda,
one of literature's most emotionally intense masterpieces, it was
announced today by Jane Tranter, BBC Controller of Drama Commissioning.
From
the moment he sees her at the roulette table, the young and idealistic
Daniel Deronda (Hugh Dancy) is drawn to Gwendolen Harleth (Romola
Garai), as she is to him.
But
Gwendolen outwardly alluring and vivacious, inwardly complex
and unsettled is forced into an oppressive marriage with
Henleigh Grandcourt (Hugh Bonneville), a powerful aristocrat who
is intent on moulding Gwendolen into his perfect wife.
Daniel
is torn between his feelings for Gwendolen and a young Jewish woman,
Mirah Lapidoth (Jodhi May), and because he is uncertain of his parentage,
embarks on a quest to discover his true identity. Fate however,
leads to a surprising twist...
"Daniel
Deronda is highly original and modern in its feel," says award-winning
writer, Andrew Davies.
"George
Eliot's last novel is bold and experimental for its time which makes
it ripe for adaptation. Set in the 1860s, it is a passionate, intense
love story which takes both hero and heroine, Daniel Deronda and
Gwendolen Harleth, on a journey of eventual self-fulfilment."
The
exceptional cast also includes Edward Fox (Sir Hugo Mallinger),
Daniel's adopted father; Celia Imrie (Mrs Meyrick) and Amanda Root
(Mrs Davilow).
The
BBC is currently in discussions with Greta Scacchi about her playing
Lydia Glasher, Grandcourt's embittered former mistress and mother
of his two children.
Jane
Tranter said: "Andrew
Davies' latest adaptation for BBC ONE has powerful themes - passion,
love, fulfilment and identity.
"Like
his recent adaptation of Anthony Trollope's The Way We Live Now,
its themes are as relevant today as they were in 1876 when the novel
was published."
Daniel
Deronda, which shoots from 29 May 2002 for 11 weeks on location
in Somerset, London, Surrey, Edinburgh and Malta, reunites Andrew
Davies with producer Louis Marks, the team behind the BBC's award-winning
and widely acclaimed version of George Eliots Middlemarch.
Directed
by Tom Hooper (Love In A Cold Climate), the executive producers
are Kate Harwood and Head of Drama Serials, Laura Mackie.
Notes
to Editors
The
cast and their characters
Andrew
Davies
Award-winning
writer Andrew Davies was honoured with a BAFTA Fellowship earlier
this year.
Chief
among his adaptations for the BBC are Pride and Prejudice (1995),
Mother Love, House of Cards, A Rather English Marriage, Wives &
Daughters and The Way We Live Now.
Tipping
The Velvet, Davies' adaptation of Sarah Walters' Victorian lesbian
love story, has just completed filming for BBC TWO.
His
own original work, all for the BBC, includes A Very Peculiar Practice
and Game On.
For
ITV he has adapted Boris Pasternak's Doctor Zhivago and Moll Flanders.
In addition, he co-adapted the box office smash Bridget Jones Diary
with Richard Curtis and Helen Fielding.
Also
checkout the new BBC Drama
website on BBCi.
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