Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight is an undeniably busy man. With the fourth seasons of the show currently showing and a fifth to come - and even a film potentially in the works - you'd think that he has enough on his plate.

However, it looks like the filmmaker's life is about to get even more hectic in the short-term as he'll be creating a series of Charles Dickens' classic novels for BBC One, alongside Tom Hardy's production company, Hardy Son And Baker.

The first novel in the series will be A Christmas Carol, the famous Dickens story which follows miserly boss Ebenezer Scrooge as he's visited on Christmas Eve by ghosts who urge him to change his ways. You'd imagine it'll be a bit grittier than the Muppets version.

Given that Knight's built his career on writing dramas set decades or centuries ago in English history, he's pretty well equipped to do justice to Dickens' much-loved festive tale.

But despite his excellent track record for must-view TV, even he's intimidated at the prospect of having to reinvent one of the most well-known stories in the English language.

"Any question about narrative storytelling is answered by Dickens," Knight said. "To have the chance to revisit the text and interpret in a new way is the greatest privilege. We need luck and wisdom to do this justice."

The latest small-screen version of the festive favourite is being produced by Ridley Scott - yes, the celebrated director of Gladiator, Alien and American Gangster. A pretty experienced eye to have watching over things, eh?

And with Tom Hardy's production company involved, you've got to wonder just how bad-ass the BBC wants this new Dickens series to be? Very, by the sounds of it.

"It's extremely exciting to have the opportunity to team up with Ridley Scott, Steven Knight and our partners at the BBC with this rare and wonderful opportunity to revisit and interpret Dickens' classic works," Hardy said.

"A Christmas Carol is a fabulous magical piece of theatre and an embarrassment of riches for our creative team - from character all the way through to design. Here's to having a lot of intricate and wonderful fun. We feel very lucky."

Knight's version of A Christmas Carol won't air until Christmas 2019 so there's plenty of time for him to get it right. Either way, the show sounds like a right festive feast to look forward to.

Share This Post