BBC Dickens season to close with The Mystery Of Edwin Drood
26th January 2011
The Mystery Of Edwin Drood will be given a new ending in a BBC production, despite the novel being unfinished by Victorian author Charles Dickens.
Screenwriter Gwyneth Hughes has drafted a denouement for the 'ambitious adaptation' that will be screened in December on BBC Four as part of the BBC Dickens season.
Dickens started writing the novel, which was to be published in 12 instalments, in 1870 but failed to finish it before his death from a stroke in the same year.
Other programmes in the season include a 'bold new' version of Great Expectations on BBC One, as well as productions of A Tale Of Two Cities and Martin Chuzzlewit on Radio 4.
In addition, a range of documentaries will look at Dickens, including a BBC Two programme in which Armando Iannucci examines why the author remains so popular and Dickens On Film by flagship arts documentary series Arena.
Jana Bennett, director of vision at the BBC, said: 'We very much hope that this year's focus on books will both enhance the enjoyment of books for fans and help to bring books to a whole new audience.'
Last year, the Victoria and Albert Museum launched a fundraising campaign to save Dickens' handwritten manuscript of The Mystery of Edwin Drood.