Plot: London, 1782. Tensions run high in the war between France and Britain. A young woman, Lucie Manette has her life upended when she receives a message from Paris – her father, assumed dead for almost 20 years, may be alive. The messenger – idealistic French emigré, Charles Darnay – is arrested and charged with treason. Lucie enlists the help of a brilliant but erratic young lawyer, Sydney Carton, to free Darnay in the hope he will lead her to Paris to track down her father. Lucie’s collision with Darnay and Carton unleashes a powerful and complex love triangle. Both men fight to be worthy of her love, and Lucie is torn over which one to choose. Yet neither man – physically so alike, spiritually poles apart – can escape the other. Instead, they find themselves bound together in life and death, through triumphs, tragedies, marriage, and murder.
Review: I’ve gone through a recent spurt of reading Charles Dickens novels because I realized I didn’t spend as much time with the iconic English author when I was younger. I have enjoyed the modern retellings of his stories, ranging from Andrew Davies BBC mini-series like Bleak House and Little Dorrit to Armando Iannucci’s brilliant 2019 film The Personal History of David Copperfield. Even Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight has turned A Christmas Carol and Great Expectations into dark and gritty dramas, while Kermit the Frog and Michael Caine have given us the legendary Muppet Christmas Carol. Dickens’ legacy has influenced stage and screen for a century, but there have not been nearly as many takes on what may be his most-quoted work. Similar in many ways to Les Miserables, A Tale of Two Cities is a story many people have heard of but few truly know. That will change with this new take on the historical novel from star and producer Kit Harington, which expands on the less-developed aspects of the book and gives a new generation the chance to explore the best of times and worst of times during the tumultuous period of strife between England and France.
Set in the late 18th century, A Tale of Two Cities is a romantic tale set during the uprising of common folk against the French aristocracy, while, at the same time, the English are recovering from their war with the newly formed United States. With tensions at their peak, rebel doctor Alexandre Manette tries to escape Paris with his daughter, Lucie, who sees him seemingly die as her carriage leaves him behind. Cared for by bank manager, Mr. Lorry, and governess, Miss Pross (Sharon Duncan-Brewster), Lucie grows into a self-assured adult. Played by Mirren Mack, this take on Lucie Manette is more than a two-dimensional “idealized” woman as she was in Dickens’ novel. Here, Lucie follows in her father’s footsteps by learning how to perform medical procedures on corpses since women cannot be doctors, and helps rescue Charles Darnay (Francois Civil) when he arrives with word that her father is still alive. When Charles is arrested as a spy and traitor, Lucie turns to the drunken lawyer Sydney Carton (Kit Harington) for help. Sydney, who looks very similar to Charles Darnay, becomes smitten by Lucie and thus begins one of the most memorable love triangles in literature.
Like most of Charles Dickens’ novels, A Tale of Two Cities borders on soap opera-levels of melodrama involving mistaken identities, twist endings, secret reveals, unrequited love, death, and every trope we view as cliche today. But, Dickens had a knack for creating likable characters as well as villains everyone loved to hate. With A Tale of Two Cities, his sprawling epic story echoed the similarly themed Les Miserables to the point that many who love the Broadway musical and Oscar-winning film may feel that this story is derivative of Victor Hugo’s masterpiece even though A Tale of Two Cities was published three years earlier. Both stories examine middle and lower-class commoners who rise up against oppression. This adaptation takes the unique angle of having the Paris-set scenes performed in French, which lends a more authentic feel to the story. What it also does is change some key elements of the source material, which may frustrate purists but actually improves upon Dickens’ final draft. What and how things change, I will leave to you to discover when you watch the series. All I will say is that the core narrative structure and order of events remain the same, but this adaptation expands on how and why the characters reach the ends that they do.
Released in four, one-hour chapters, A Tale of Two Cities is structured differently than the three main sections of the original novel. The series adaptation presents elements of the novel simultaneously rather than sequentially which adds to the momentum of the story. In this version, the familial secretof Charles Darnay, the relationship between Lucie and Sydney as well as that between Lucie and Charles, and events in Paris and London happen closely together which binds the characters more than in the novel. This is also a far more mature take on the subject matter with a key accident and a murder appearing much more brutal than how Dickens originally wrote them. There are also sex scenes which, while never explicit in the original book, are fairly racy here and fit the series streaming home while more risque than you typically get on BBC One. With some good supporting performances from Ian Pirie as John Barsad and Roxane Duran as Therese Defarge, this series is truly a showcase for Mirren Mack. The actress is best known for The Witcher: Blood Origin and a small role in Hedda, but Mack may give the best performance anyone has delivered as Lucie Manette. A prototype for the manic pixie dream girl trope, Lucie is a character worth rooting for and becomes intrinsic to the plot and actions of Charles and Sydney rather than the possession she was in the source novel.
Kit Harington, next reprising his audio role in live action as Gilderoy Lockhart for the HBO Harry Potter series, gives an equally expanded role as Sydney Carton that is more nuanced than the drunken and depressed character from the written page. Harington also serves as executive producer and helped sheperd this adaptation from being another Masterpiece Theatre-style take on Dickens. Writer Daniel West, who wrote Harington’s previous passion project Gunpowder, does a great job of keeping what Charles Dickens created at the core and only making enhancements that improve rather than detract from the iconic story. Directors Richard Clark and Hong Khaou manage to give this adaptation a cinematic quality that does not look like it is reusing old period costumes and sets. Watching the series, each episode moves quickly and allows you the time to invest in each character without feeling overwhelmed by the massive cast of supporting players. There is a lot going on and every opportunity is taken to inhabit this world and the simmering revolution just below the surface.
This is a take on A Tale of Two Cities that will entertain even those who are not fans of Charles Dickens work. The biggest compliment I can give this adaptation is that it holds its own opposite the grandeur of Les Miserables and may actually be a better and more engaging story. All of what makes Charles Dickens such an important literary fixture is preserved here while giving Kit Harington, Mirren Mack, and Francois Civil meatier characters to dig into. When an adaptation of a novel published almost two centuries ago can be improved upon and feel as relevant and timely as ever, that deserves praise for all involved. A Tale of Two Cities as a television series has now given me renewed interest in going back and exploring more of Charles Dickens’ work I have yet to read, but I may opt to rewatch this interpretation on the story before I do.
A Tale of Two Cities premieres on September 6th on MGM+.