Nell Tiger Free Leads BBC/PBS 'Portrait of a Lady' Adaptation
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- PBS Masterpiece, BBC, and Fox are co-producing a series adaptation of Henry James' 1881 novel The Portrait of a Lady, with filming underway in the UK, Hungary, and Croatia
- Nell Tiger Free (Game of Thrones) leads the ensemble as Isabel Archer, the American ingénue who inherits a fortune and falls prey to two ex-pat schemers in Old World Europe
- Gemma Arterton plays the elegant schemer Madame Merle and Jim Sturgess plays the charming but calculating Gilbert Osmond, both targeting Isabel's inheritance
- Bill Nighy and Miranda Richardson play Mr. and Mrs. Touchett, with Richardson's Mrs. Touchett taking Isabel to Europe in search of a husband
- The novel hasn't been adapted since Jane Campion's 1996 double-Oscar-nominated film starring Nicole Kidman and John Malkovich; a BBC TV series was made in 1968 with Richard Chamberlain
- Number 9 Films (Stephen Woolley and Elizabeth Karlsen) produces in association with Beta Film, with Fox Entertainment Global handling worldwide sales
- Rather than a full greenlight, the BBC pre-bought the series — a deal that comes 18 months after Fox TV boss Michael Thorn said the American major could help resolve the British drama industry's 'blinking greenlights' funding problem; Rebecca Lenkiewicz writes and Aisling Walsh directs
Why it matters: This BBC/Masterpiece co-production tackles a Henry James classic unadapted for nearly 30 years, but the structural story is financial: rather than fully greenlight the series, the BBC pre-bought it while Fox Entertainment Global handles worldwide sales — the exact 'blinking greenlights' funding problem Fox TV boss Michael Thorn publicly offered American studio cash to fix 18 months ago. For prestige drama, it extends the BBC-Masterpiece pipeline behind Wolf Hall and Miss Austen with an unusually heavyweight ensemble.
