EXCLUSIVE: Two of Britain’s top actors will pair up in the latest BBC Christmas ghost story special, The Bride’s Chamber.
Martin Freeman (The Hobbit, Sherlock) and Jim Broadbent (The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Bridget Jones) will star in the Dickensian story, alongside Adrian Scarborough (The Chelsea Detective, Gavin & Stacey), Joe Armstrong (Happy Valley, The Hollow Crown), India Fowler (The Agency, Fear Street: Prom Queen) and Lewis Shepherd (Dear England, Lynley).
The Bride’s Chamber is considered among Charles Dickens’ darkest stories and was originally published in 1858. Set in the same year, it tells the story of a spurned and vengeful suitor who manipulates a young woman and marries her to claim for fortune. However, his murderous plan creates his own purgatory.
As is tradition at the BBC, Mark Gatiss has created the special, which is the ninth and now a staple of British TV festive season specials.
Last year was an adaptation of E.F. Benson’s The Room in the Tower, with E. Nesbit’s Woman of Stone the year before and Arthur Conan Doyle’s Lot No. 249 rounding out the past three Christmases.
Principal photography on The Bride’s Chamber took place on location in Ingatestone Hall, in Essex, UK earlier this year. The special will air on BBC Two over the festive period and play on BBC iPlayer. Adorable Media is producing, with BBC Studios handling international distribution. Isibeal Ballance is the producer for Adorable and Mark Bell is the BBC commissioning editor.
The production reunites Gatiss with Sherlock co-star Freeman. Gatiss was co-creator of the BBC show and portrayed Mycroft Holmes, while Freeman played Sherlock’s sidekick, Dr John Watson. Gatiss also appeared opposite Broadbent in BBC thriller London Spy, and both men had roles in Game of Thrones, though never shared screen time.
“It’s unusual to find a Dickens rarity, but this is it,” said Gatiss. “A weird and nasty little treasure which lurks within a work co-written with the great Wilkie Collins. A lonely inn, an incognito traveller and a ghastly tale of warped obsession. Merry Christmas!”
For the BBC, this winter will see a batch of Dickens-themed programs run, including a three-part doc exploring how the influential British writer drew creative inspiration from the streets of Victorian London after dark, while Kit Harington is starring in an adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities.
