Great Expectations is a three-part BBC television drama adaptation by Sarah Phelps of the Charles Dickens’s 1861 novel of the same name, starring Ray Winstone as Magwitch, Gillian Anderson as Miss Havisham,[1] Douglas Booth as Pip, Vanessa Kirby as Estella and David Suchet as Jaggers.

Anderson's casting as Miss Havisham drew attention to the production due to her being a mere 43 compared to other actresses who have played her.

Young Pip (Oscar Kennedy) is out on the marshes when he meets escaped convict Abel Magwitch (Ray Winstone), who tells him to steal a file so he can remove his shackles.

Pip lives with his sister (Claire Rushbrook) and the blacksmith Joe Gargery (Shaun Dooley), who learn from her uncle (Mark Addy) that the reclusive Miss Havisham (Gillian Anderson) needs a young boy.

Sure of a reward, Pip’s sister puts him forward, and he becomes a playmate for Havisham's adopted daughter Estella (Izzy Meikle-Small).

Seven years later, Pip (now Douglas Booth), having once again seen Estella (now Vanessa Kirby), is visited by the lawyer Jaggers (David Suchet), who informs him that he has an anonymous benefactor who will pay for him to go to London and begin life as a gentleman, on the condition that he must be known only as Pip and must not enquire about the source of the money.

In London, grown up Pip spends time in the company of Herbert Pocket (Harry Lloyd), racking up debts at a private members club and trying to forget his former life.

Pip overhears an arrogant client, Bentley Drummle (Tom Burke), also being told off by Jaggers for his ways.

Pip describes him to Magwitch, who reveals his real name to be Compeyson, the man he fought with on the marshes years ago.

Pip, still in one pound's worth of debt to his collectors, intends to leave London, but Wemmick informs him that it has been paid by Joe, whom he had written to asking for help.

[5] In the UK the first part of the adaptation received the highest viewing figures in its time slot, gaining 6.6 million viewers.

[6] The casting of Gillian Anderson as the obsessive jilted bride Miss Havisham drew attention to the production due to her being a mere 43 compared to other actresses who have played her.

The move was generally accepted with The Independent saying "Phelps's biggest liberty, making Miss Havisham young and beautiful... didn't greatly worry me, because Gillian Anderson nicely captured the continuing hysteria of her obsession.

[8] The Daily Telegraph also praised her saying "this pale yet still beautiful wraith, mouth in need of lip salve and Baby Jane ringlets slowly unravelling, speaking in insidious singsong instead of the usual dotty dowager tones.

[9] Maxine Audley, who portrayed Miss Havisham in the BBC's 1967 adaptation, was also only 43 when she played the role, but little attention was drawn to this at the time.