Don’t panic, purists. It’s still DICKENS

Yes, it’s already infuriated many. But you’ll end this enthralling first episode with great expectations for the rest of the series

There has been a bit of a kerfuffle about this new adaptation of Great Expectations and the fact that one of the characters, the petty criminal Magwitch, expresses anti-imperial sentiments. True, that’s not in Charles Dickens’s novel, but given that the unfortunate Magwitch has been incarcerated on a brutal prison ship and transported to Australia by the British government, it is not unreasonable to assume he might not be its biggest fan.

More to the point is whether we actually need another adaptation of Dickens’s masterpiece. His penultimate completed novel is the coming-of-age story of Pip, an orphaned blacksmith’s apprentice who aspires to be a gentleman and succeeds in rising way above his humble beginnings but at considerable personal cost.

The book grips throughout, from its dramatic opening in a graveyard on the North Kent marshes to its haunting ending. It features some of the author’s most memorable characters and one of the greatest plot twists in literature. But we already have David Lean’s classic 1946 film with John Mills as Pip, Alfonso Cuarón’s surprisingly sexy

1998 adaptation, and a terrific 2011 TV series starring Gillian Anderson as the unhinged Miss Havisham.

Can this version, by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, compete? On the basis of the first episode, yes. It is, admittedly, likely to give purists an attack of the vapours. Pip would never have referred to ‘mum and dad’. There is some robust swearing. It’s 20 minutes before we even get to the first scene of the book. But, like Shakespeare, Dickens’s work is rich enough to bear some tinkering. You can twist the story any which way but it always springs back into shape. And while Knight’s version might not adhere to the letter of the text, it is true to the spirit of the book.

Johnny Harris is excellent as Magwitch, a man made dangerous by injustice. Olivia Colman (above left) is chilling as Miss Havisham, driven mad by heartbreak and still wearing her rotting wedding dress. Tom Sweet is solid as the young Pip (adult Pip is played by Fionn Whitehead, above centre with Shalom Brune-Franklin as Estella), and it is made abundantly clear why he might want to escape the care of his older sister, who administers regular beatings ‘out of love’.

Actor Tom Hardy is a producer, and the look and feel of this is akin to Taboo, the cult historical drama he made with Knight. The fog-wreathed Kent marshes have never seemed so ominous, nor

Miss Havisham’s decaying mansion so creepy. It’s a good start, setting up great expectations for the next five episodes.