New York – MASTERPIECE on PBS, BBC One and Golden Globe and BAFTA award-winning producer Playground are delighted to share a first look image from the TV adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel, Little Women. The three hour adaptation from the award-winning creator of Call the Midwife Heidi Thomas and director Vanessa Caswill (Thirteen) will air on MASTERPIECE on PBS in the US and BBC One in the UK.

Set against the backdrop of a country divided, the story follows the four March sisters: Jo, played by newcomer Maya Hawke, Meg, played by Willa Fitzgerald (Scream: The TV Series, Misfortune), Beth, played by Annes Elwy (Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams) and Amy, played by Kathryn Newton (Big Little Lies, Halt and Catch Fire), on their journey from childhood to adulthood. With the help of their mother Marmee (BAFTA Award-winner Emily Watson) while their father is away at war, and accompanied by the charming boy next door Laurie Laurence (Jonah Hauer-King), the girls navigate what it means to be a young woman: from gender roles to sibling rivalry, first love, loss and marriage.

 

Academy Award-winner Dame Angela Lansbury (Murder, She Wrote, The Manchurian Candidate) plays the cantankerous Aunt March and BAFTA-Award winner Michael Gambon (Harry Potter, Churchill’s Secret) takes on the role of their benevolent neighbor Mr. Laurence.

 

Little Women has been commissioned by Piers Wenger and Charlotte Moore at the BBC, and is produced by Playground (Wolf Hall, Howards End) for BBC One. The series is a co-production with MASTERPIECE on PBS. The producer is Susie Liggat. Executive producers are Colin Callender and Sophie Gardiner for Playground, Heidi Thomas, Lucy Richer for the BBC and Rebecca Eaton for Masterpiece. Lionsgate will manage worldwide distribution excluding US and UK.