BBC One & Weinstein Team for Les Misérables Miniseries

LONDON: Andrew Davies is adapting Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables as a six-part miniseries, which will be a BBC Studios and Lookout Point co-production for BBC One in association with Weinstein Television.

Following the recent international success of War and Peace, which is from the same team, BBC Worldwide will also globally distribute Les Misérables as part of its overall relationship with Lookout Point and BBC Studios. Weinstein Television will distribute the series in the U.S. and China with an option for Canada.

Davies will dig deep into the 19th-century classic to fully explore Jean Valjean and Javert’s cat-and-mouse relationship. It is set against the backdrop of France at a time of civil unrest.

Charlotte Moore, the director of BBC Content, said: “Andrew Davies’ extraordinary skill for adaptation will bring the world-famous Les Misérables into powerful focus for a modern audience, with a multi-layer retelling of Victor Hugo’s masterpiece. BBC One viewers can expect the same quality and scale from the team behind War and Peace in this epic tale of redemption and the healing power of love.”

Davies commented: “Les Misérables is a huge, iconic title. Most of us are familiar with the musical version, which only offers a fragmentary outline of its story. I am thrilled to have the opportunity of doing real justice to Victor Hugo at last by adapting his masterpiece in a six-hour version for the BBC, with the same team who made War and Peace.”

Nick Betts, the director of scripted at BBC Studios, said: “BBC Studios is delighted that our first drama commission with our partners Lookout Point and Weinstein Television will reunite Andrew Davies and the brilliant production team behind War and Peace to produce a definitive version of Les Misérables for the BBC.”

Faith Penhale, joint CEO of Lookout Point, added: “It’s a privilege to be working with Andrew, Harvey and the BBC again to bring Hugo’s searingly relevant masterpiece, and his biggest achievement, faithfully to life for a modern audience.”

Harvey Weinstein, co-chairman of Weinstein Television, remarked: “Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables is one of the greatest novels of all time—and while the musical is one of my favorites this will be completely different. An intense and serious drama that will find contemporary relevance to what’s going on in the world today. I’m thrilled to be reunited with Faith Penhale and Simon Vaughan, my partners from War and Peace, with Charlotte Moore from the BBC, and of course, with Andrew Davies who wrote War and Peace. I think the BBC and Weinstein Television collaboration are a new paradigm in the telling of classics—they’re modern and yet respectful. And, with the exception of James Bond, nobody does it better than Andrew Davies.”