A Tale of Two Cities is the best-selling English-language novel of all time. It has been adapted for stage and screen more times than most books could dream of.
Yet, watching the new trailer with Kit Harington as the brilliant, self-destructive, bottle-dwelling Sydney Carton, my immediate reaction was: nobody has done it quite like this before.
September 6 cannot arrive fast enough.
MGM+ and the BBC have officially released the first trailer for their four-part limited series adaptation of Charles Dickens’ 1859 classic, confirming a premiere date of September 6 on MGM+ in the U.S. and on BBC One in the UK.
The series stars Kit Harington as Sydney Carton alongside François Civil as Charles Darnay and Mirren Mack as Lucie Manette.
A Tale of Two Cities TV Adaptation – Official Trailer:
What Is A Tale of Two Cities About?
For those whose main memory of this novel is the opening line, which the trailer quotes to open proceedings, here is what the story is actually about, beyond the famous words.
The official series description captures it precisely:
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 that 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.
The novel spans from 1775 to 1793, carrying its characters through the French Revolution, the Reign of Terror, and Madame Guillotine’s relentless appetite.
And no, this is not a book about the French Revolution. Instead, the French Revolution is the pressure that forces these characters to reveal who they truly are.
Why This Adaptation Is the One to Watch?
Kit Harington has been trying to make this series for years. That level of personal investment in a role matters — and Sydney Carton is the kind of role that rewards it completely.
Harington was drawn to the role of Sydney Carton precisely because of the character’s tragic arc — a brilliant but alcoholic barrister whose unrealized potential weighs on him and ultimately leads him to heroic sacrifice.
For years, Harington and his producing partner Daniel West have been pitching this adaptation before it finally found its home at MGM+ and the BBC.
The connection between Harington and West is not new. The series marks a reunion between the two, who previously collaborated on the BBC miniseries Gunpowder in 2017, which was a historical drama about Kit Harington’s own ancestor, Robert Catesby, one of the architects of the Gunpowder Plot.
Opposite Harington, François Civil, best known internationally for The Three Musketeers, plays Charles Darnay, the man who looks like Carton but couldn’t be more different in spirit. The physical resemblance between the two is the plot’s fulcrum, and the casting of Civil, who brings genuine leading-man energy and warmth, makes the triangle feel genuinely balanced. You understand why Lucie is torn.
Mirren Mack completes the trio as Lucie Manette. The series is directed by Richard Clark, whose credits include multiple episodes of Outlander, and written by Daniel West, who also wrote for Top Boy.
The production team is rounded out by Simon Meyers of I May Destroy You as producer — another creative name with real prestige attached. This is not a prestige drama in name only. The people making it have made serious, acclaimed television before.
It Is the Best of Times to Read Dickens
A Tale of Two Cities premieres September 6 on MGM+ in the U.S. and on BBC One in the UK. You have just enough time.
The novel is not long by Dickens’ standards, and it moves faster than most of his other work. Plus, the serialized format gave it a propulsive momentum that still carries beautifully on the page.
Read it over a few evenings this month, let Sydney Carton take shape in your imagination before Harington inhabits him, and let the full weight of the book’s final pages land the way Dickens intended.
If you did read it in high school and remember almost nothing except the opening line, then this is your chance to give it another go!
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