Describing the project as "a sort of super-literary-hero mash-up," Deadline.com reported that filming has begun on filming Dickensian, "an ambitious 20-part BBC One period drama that brings together some of Charles Dickens's most iconic characters." The cast includes Stephen Rea as Inspector Bucket from Bleak House, Pauline Collins (Shirley Valentine) is Mrs. Gamp from Martin Chuzzlewit and Caroline Quentin (Dancing on the Edge) as Oliver Twist's Mrs. Bumble, as well as Peter Firth (Spooks) and Tuppence Middleton (The Imitation Game).
In a West London studio, the production team "has crafted an elaborate set replete with cobblestone High Street that includes a fully functioning pub, the eponymous Old Curiosity Shop and Fagin's Den. It also features a church and law courts amid 27 two-story buildings and seven back alley ways," Deadline.com noted.
Rea called Dickensian "the most beautiful re-working of the world of Dickens that you could ever imagine. The characters take on a fresh life, and any actor would be mad not to accept the challenge these great scripts offer."
