The BBC’s upcoming adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic novel Great hope has strong anti-colonial undertones.
The author of the hit TV series Peaky BlindersStephen Knight presents a new twist to the famous story.
The scene features one of the main characters, the criminal Magwitch, who describes the British Empire as “built on the lies of white privilege”. The Telegraph.
Asked if he thought the new adaptation would hurt the sentiment of traditionalists, Knight said, “Everybody has the right to act the way they want to act.”
“But I would say the book is there, and it still is. This is not an attempt to say that this book is wrong or that this is good.”
Knight also aims to remove the rigidity associated with Victorian Britain. Actor Ffion Whitehead, who plays the novel’s main character, orphan Pip, hopes the BBC’s interpretation will make the novel “accessible to young people”.
“Empire was a terrible thing when many Britons went out and enslaved, plundered and destroyed many cultures around the world,” he said.
“It happened because of greed. Anyone who believes that the Empire is a wonderful thing is kidding themselves.”
