Great Expectations (1989 TV series)
Great Expectations is a British‑American television miniseries based on Charles Dickens’s 1861 novel. It was written by John Goldsmith and directed by Kevin Connor. The cast includes Jean Simmons as Miss Havisham, John Rhys-Davies as Joe Gargery, Ray McAnally as Jaggers, Adam Blackwood as Herbert Pocket, Anthony Hopkins as Abel Magwitch, Anthony Calf as Pip, and Kim Thomson as Estella (played as both a child and an adult). Niven Boyd plays Orlick, Susan Franklyn is Biddy, and Martin Harvey plays the young Pip.
This longer-form drama allows more of the original story to be shown, restoring characters such as Orlick and Wopsle, and giving deeper attention to Biddy, Drummle, Miss Havisham, and the adult Estella. The adaptation stays close to Dickens’s ending and uses its format to explore themes of class, wealth, and character versus fortune.
The series was produced by HTV, Primetime Television Ltd., Tesauro Television, and Walt Disney Television. In the United States, Disney Channel aired it in three parts in July 1989; in the United Kingdom, ITV broadcast it in six parts in July–August 1991. Filming locations included Harty Church on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent (the Pip–Magwitch meeting), Upnor Village (Clara’s house), and Upnor Lighthouse, which is visible as Pip arrives by boat. The first episode aired on July 9, 1989, and the series was released on video in 1990. The music was composed by Ken Thorne, with cinematography by Douglas Milsome and editing by Barry Peters.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 04:31 (CET).