Production will begin on BBC series ‘The Life and Adventures of Nick Nickleby’ in Belfast on June 11.
Double BAFTA-winning production company Kindle Entertainment will produce the Charles Dickens adaptation which will be given a modern reworking.
The shoot is expected to last six-and-a-half weeks in various locations around Belfast with Northern Irish cinematographer Jim Creagh (Give My Head Peace) among the key Irish crew attached.
No cast details have yet been revealed by Kindle’s production office in Belfast, although an announcement is expected in the coming weeks.
Dickens’ classic tale is centred around poverty-stricken Nicholas Nickleby, who embarks on an adventure into the world of wealthy boarding schools and the elites of society.
London-based Kindle’s modern adaptation will focus on lead character Nick, who investigates corruption in care homes for the elderly. The adaptation, which was written by Joy Wilkinson (Doctors) and Dominique Moloney (Land Girls), will deliver the same capitalist message as the original.
David Innes Edwards (The Bill/Holby City) will direct the five-part series, of which Wilkinson wrote four episodes and Moloney one.
Susan Breen is producing for Kindle, while Kindle’s directors Melanie Stokes and Anne Brogan are executive producers.
IFTA-winning costume designer Hazel Webb-Crozier (Mickybo and Me/Your Highness) is providing the costumes on set.
Filming is scheduled to wrap on July 25, with Down-based Yellow Moon starting on post production. Nick Emerson will edit for Yellow Moon. The post house previously worked on BBC series’ ‘Blandings,’ which was also shot in Northern Ireland earlier this year, and ‘The Fall,’ which is currently shooting in Belfast.
Northern Ireland Screen is funding the project, with support from Invest NI and the European Regional Development Fund. The series will air on a daytime slot on BBC One in autumn of this year.
