Martin Freeman undergoes dramatic transformation for new BBC drama

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Martin Freeman and Jim Broadbent will star in a Charles Dickens adaptation for the BBC’s annual Ghost Story For Christmas.

The Bride’s Chamber follows a spurned and vengeful suitor who manipulates a young woman and marries her to claim her fortune, but his murderous plans create his own purgatory.

Mark Gatiss, who is adapting Dickens’ tale, said: “I’m once more thrilled and honoured to bring another Ghost Story For Christmas to BBC Two. It’s unusual to find a Dickens rarity but this is it.

“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!”

Jim Broadbent will feature in the new BBC drama (Getty)

Mark Bell, commissioning editor for BBC Arts, said: “The Ghost Story For Christmas has become an essential dish on the festive TV menu, for audiences who love nothing more than settling in for a spine-tingling tale on a winter’s night.

“This year we’re delighted to bring you this spooky story by Charles Dickens, brilliantly adapted and directed by Mark Gatiss, with a great cast, to coincide with a range of further Dickens-inspired programming set to air across the BBC in December as part of the National Year of Reading.”

Principal photography took place earlier this year on location at Ingatestone Hall, Essex.

The series will feature Jim Broadbent (The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Bridget Jones), 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).

This winter the BBC will also present a three-part documentary examining how Dickens drew creative inspiration from the streets of Victorian London after dark, as well as a four-part adaptation of Dickens’ classic A Tale Of Two Cities, starring Kit Harington.

A Ghost Story For Christmas: The Bride’s Chamber will air on BBC Two.

Martin Freeman undergoes dramatic transformation for new BBC drama

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