Martin Freeman and Jim Broadbent Lead BBC’s Dickensian Christmas Ghost Story THE BRIDE’S CHAMBER
The BBC is digging up one of Charles Dickens’ nastier tales for Christmas, and it has Martin Freeman and Jim Broadbent leading the cast.
The two British actors will star in The Bride’s Chamber, the latest Christmas ghost story from Mark Gatiss, who has turned these creepy literary adaptations into an annual BBC tradition. This will be Gatiss’ ninth festive ghost story special, and he’s found a particularly grim piece of Dickens to bring to the screen.
Originally published in 1858, The Bride’s Chamber is considered one of Dickens’ darker stories. The adaptation will remain in that year and follows a rejected, vengeful suitor who manipulates a young woman into marrying him so he can get his hands on her fortune.
His murderous scheme doesn’t exactly deliver the future he imagined, instead trapping him in a hellish purgatory of his own making. That sounds like some wonderfully unpleasant Christmas viewing.
Freeman, best known for The Hobbit and Sherlock, and Broadbent, whose credits include The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and Bridget Jones, are joined by Adrian Scarborough (The Chelsea Detective, Gavin & Stacey), Joe Armstrong (Happy Valley, The Hollow Crown), India Fowler (The Agency, Fear Street: Prom Queen) and Lewis Shepherd (Dear England, Lynley).
Gatiss described why this lesser-known Dickens story was such an appealing choice: “It’s unusual to find a Dickens rarity, but this is it. A weird and nasty little treasure which lurks within a work co-written with the great Wilkie Collins. A lonely inn, an incognito traveller and a ghastly tale of warped obsession. Merry Christmas!”
Gatiss and Freeman obviously have plenty of history together. Gatiss co-created Sherlock and played Mycroft Holmes, while Freeman starred as Dr. John Watson. Gatiss has also worked with Broadbent before, appearing alongside him in the BBC thriller London Spy. Both actors also appeared in Game of Thrones, although their characters never crossed paths.
Principal photography on The Bride’s Chamber took place earlier this year at Ingatestone Hall in Essex, UK, which should provide a fitting location for all that Victorian misery and supernatural nastiness.
The special is produced by Adorable Media, with Isibeal Ballance serving as producer and Mark Bell as the BBC commissioning editor. BBC Studios will handle international distribution. The Bride’s Chamber will air on BBC Two during the Christmas season and will also be available on BBC iPlayer.
It continues a run of literary ghost stories from Gatiss. Last Christmas brought an adaptation of E.F. Benson’s The Room in the Tower, preceded by E. Nesbit’s Woman of Stone and Arthur Conan Doyle’s Lot No. 249.
The BBC is going particularly heavy on Dickens this winter. Its seasonal programming will also include a three-part documentary examining how Victorian London after dark influenced the writer’s imagination, while Kit Harington will star in a new adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities.
Freeman and Broadbent taking on a vicious, obscure Dickens ghost story seems like a great fit for the BBC’s Christmas tradition.
Source: Deadline