.jpg?width=400)
A Tale of Two Cities is a 2026 British-American historical drama television miniseries directed by Richard R. Clark, created and written by Daniel West, adapted from the 1859 novel of the same name by Charles Dickens. It stars Kit Harington and François Civil as look-alikes Sydney Carton and Charles Darnay, respectively, and Mirren Mack as Lucie Manette. The supporting cast includes Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Yannick Renier, Fehinti Balogun, Barry Aird, Roxane Duran, Theo Costa-Marini and Guillaume Gallienne. It premiered on MGM+ and will premiere on BBC One.
Contents
Cast and characters
Main
François Civil as Charles Darnay
Mirren Mack as Lucie Manette
Kit Harington as Sydney Carton
Sharon Duncan-Brewster as Hester Lorry
Guillaume Gallienne as Alexandre Manette
Supporting
Fehinti Balogun as C.J. Stryver
Theo Costa-Marini as Ernest Defarge
Roxane Duran as Madame Defarge
Yannick Renier as young Alexandre
Layla Ingleby as young Luice
Jules Balekdijan as young Ernest
David Z. Miller as Jarvis Lorry
Victoria Mackay as Alice
Ian Pirie as John Barsad
Barry Aird as Jerry Cruncher
Thomas Blanchard as Gaspard
Romy Baratin-Forest as Juliette
Production
Development
On 31 July 2025, it was reported that Kit Harington and François Civil would star on BBC One's adaptation of the novel A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, produced by Federation Stories in association with Thriker Films.
The series is written by Daniel West, directed by Richard R. Clark, and produced by Simon Meyers. Executive producers are Harington and West for Thriker Films, Hong Khaou, Polly Williams (also managing director) and Sarah Best for Federation Stories, Léo Becker for Federation Studio France, and Michael Wright for MGM+.
Casting
On 17 September 2025, Harington was officially announced as Sydney Carton and Civil as Charles Darnay. The same day, Mirren Mack joined the cast as Lucie Manette.
On 17 November 2025, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Yannick Renier, Fehinti Balogun, Barry Aird, Roxane Duran, Theo Costa-Marini and Guillaume Gallienne joined the cast.
Filming
Filming was originally expected to begin in Budapest, Hungary in September 2025, but it was later postponed to 8 October 2025.
Release
In the UK, the series will be broadcast by BBC One in 2026. In the US, it premiered on MGM+ on September 6, 2026.