Andrew Davies: Rewriting the Classics

About this Broadcast

Documentary exploring the creative process of the screenwriter behind some of TV's most acclaimed adaptations of classic literature, from the 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice to the 2018 dramatisation of Victor Hugo's Les Miserables. He also discusses how to go about transforming sprawling, lengthy and detailed novels into primetime drama, turning one art form into another altogether different one. With contributions from authors Sarah Waters and Helen Fielding, actors Dominic West and Olivia Colman, and industry figures Jane Tranter and Sue Birtwhistle

HD subtitles 16x9

Arts/Culture (without Music) General

Did You Know..

Andrew Davies (Presenter)

Dominic West (Contributor)

Born: October 15, 1969 in Sheffield

Best Known For: Playing McNulty in The Wire.

Early-life: Dominic Gerard Fe West was born on October 15, 1969, in Sheffield. He's of Irish descent but grew up in a village just outside the South Yorkshire city. His father, George, owned a plastics factory. His mother, Moya, was a housewife. West is the youngest of six children and was educated at Eton, where he was encouraged to take up acting as a career. After leaving school, he spent several months as a cattle-herder in Argentina before gaining an English Literature degree from Trinity College, Dublin.

Career: West enjoyed early success on the stage, and appeared in several movies, including Spice World and Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace before taking a break to join the acrobatic Argentinean circus De La Guarda. He then had a supporting role in Chicago before landing the part of drunken but lovable detective McNulty in hugely acclaimed TV series The Wire. West has also appeared in 300, Hannibal Rising and The Devil's Whore. In 2011 he received critical acclaim for his roles as TV news anchor Hector Madden in the 1950s-set BBC drama The Hour and serial killer Fred West in ITV1 drama Appropriate Adult. He also continues to appear on stage, most notably in his native Sheffield.

Quote: 'I don't know why British actors are getting big parts in American TV shows. Maybe it's because we're cheap.'

Trivia: Away from acting, he's a Sheffield Wednesday supporter.

Olivia Colman (Contributor)

Born: January 30, 1974 in Norfolk

Best Known For: Rev, Peep Show and Broadchurch.

Early-life: Born Sarah Caroline Colman on January 30, 1974, in Norfolk. She claims she relied on making her fellow pupils laugh at school because she wasn't very academic, but went on to study at Cambridge, where she met future collaborators David Mitchell and Robert Webb. Colman initially intended to become a primary school teacher, but switched to drama and trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. She hasn't looked back since.

Career: Colman's first TV work came in the series Bruiser in 2000, and was followed by appearances alongside her old friends David and Robert in The Mitchell and Webb Situation sketch show. She had a brief role in The Office, but it wasn't until Peep Show, Look Around You and Green Wing came along that people started to sit up and take notice. Since then she's featured in Hot Fuzz, That Mitchell and Webb Look, Beautiful People, Doctor Who, Twenty Twelve and Rev. More recently she made the move from comedy to drama in The Iron Lady, the hugely acclaimed Tyrannosaur and Hyde Park on Hudson. In 2013, she starred in the acclaimed ITV drama Broadchurch, which won her a Bafta TV award for Best Actress.

Quote: 'If a script is good, you are 10 steps into the part just reading it. But my choices are not all down to my taste. It is about people you have worked with before.'

Trivia: She has voiced a number of TV commercials.

Jane Tranter (Contributor)

Sue Birtwhistle (Contributor)

Sarah Waters (Contributor)

Helen Fielding (Contributor)

Suzanne Phillips (Producer)

Sarah Broughton (Executive producer)

12:00 am - 01:00 am, Wednesday, May 20 on BBC Four (9)

About this Broadcast

Cast & Crew

More Information

Did You Know..

Before / After