Les Misérables

Well readers, I am beside myself with excitement ... the BBC have just announced that they will be adapting Les Misérables, my favourite musical and one of the greatest books ever written, into a six part drama. While there may not be any singing, the new adaptation is going to be written by Costume-Drama God Andrew Davies, and will be produced by the team that created the astonishing War & Peace. Could it involve any more of my favourite things? Well, potentially. The success of this could all hang on its cast, so who's going to get the call? My friends and I have been imagining our dream line-up ever since we heard the news.

Jean Valjean

  

I don't want to put any pressure on anyone but Valjean is one of my favourite characters of all time and I will sulk for years if he's not cast properly. The prisoner-come-fugitive-come-town mayor-come all out hero, is going to take an actor who can deliver strength and sensitivity in equal measure. Truly, the emotional range that this guy's going to need is colossal. So who's bold enough to take him on? Well frankly, I don't know. I've been throwing around a lot of names, but I don't think I've found the right man yet. There's Matthew MacFadyen - controversially my favourite Mr Darcy, he's certainly able to play a hero but can he hit me with the emotional sledgehammer I'm looking for? How about David Morrissey, he was an honourable man with fighting spirit in Sense & Sensibility - could be a good call. Then there's one of my favourites, Bertie Carvel - he was heartbroken and almost driven to madness in Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell but has his turn as Suranne Jones' cheating husband in Doctor Foster clouded the public's opinion of him? Would it be too ludicrous to suggest Hollywood star Michael Fassbender? Dominic West, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Mark Strong ..... the list goes on ...

Javert

  
Oh Javert, the Carl Hanratty to Valjean's Frank Abagnale Jnr. (shout out to all the Catch Me If You Can fans reading this) - a villain for sure but oh so much more! I think he's the character that's going to come out best in a non-musical adaptation as it should give him the space to develop a really conflicted personality. I want to see his doubts as they creep in, I want to feel his pain when he looks back at the carnage on the barricade. I want Javert to break my heart. So why not roll out the big guns? Idris Elba is a tortured good guy as Luther, could he flip it the other way? Benedict Cumberbatch feels almost too obvious - a sickeningly evil Richard III but we know from The Imitation Game, Parade's End and Sherlock that he can induce tears in his audience when he wants to. Tom Hollander and Hugh Laurie both dripped with maliciousness in The Night Manager but could they deliver the subtlety I'm after? Right now I think I'm just edging towards Rory Kinnear, his performance as the quintessential tortured villain Macbeth at Shakespeare Live! was mesmirising, I think he could really do Javert justice.

Fantine

   
Sadly for Fantine, if there's one word to sum her up, it's despair. Still aching for the love of a man who abandoned her, she has devoted her life to providing for their daughter Cosette, but, excluded by society for having a child out of wedlock and pushed to provide extra money by the conniving Thérnardiers, she is downcast, desolate and alone. Anne Hathaway was able to ring every drop of emotion out of her 15 minutes of screentime when she appeared as Fantine in the Les Mis film, but whoever plays her in the series has months of weeping ahead. There are so many wonderful female actors who are up to the task; Emmy Award winner Archie Panjabi is brilliant in everything, particularly The Fall, I've loved Claire Foy ever since I saw her in Little Dorrit - she's got innocence with a side of grit. Or how about taking the character back to her french roots and casting Clemence Poesy - so fragile and wonderful in Birdsong. I can't choose between them.

Éponine

Poor Éponine - a heroine in every sense, brave and loyal, but could her life be any more tragic? I already feel exhausted for whoever has to play her. This actress should have gumption, must be tenacious without being irritating and above all else, must leave me crying with the force of a thousand oceans. Charlotte Spencer, currently starring in the Living and the Dead has a likable fiestyness, as does Maisie Williams, but Eleanor Tomlinson's heartbreaking performance at the end of Poldark's first series had me in pieces, so she's just edging out in front.

Marius

The object of both Éponine and Cosette's affections, Marius has got to make us fall in love. Though undoubtedly heroic, the problem with this character in the musical is that he is, as Eddie Redmayne puts it "a bit of a drip". His naievity certainly makes him endearing but to warrant the kind of sacrifice Éponine makes for him, Marius needs to have a bit of something about him. So, who could he be? James Norton has history and chemistry with both my choices for Éponine and Cosette (see below) but sadly, I think he's slightly too old to pass as a student - I fear the versatile Domnhall Gleeson may be in the same boat. There's plenty of fresh-faced young actors to consider though; Freddie Fox, George McKay, Douglas Booth, Jack Lowden, 30-year old baby face Colin Morgan? To be honest, I'm a bit stuck on this one.

Cosette

Well this one didn't take much thinking about, it's got to be Lily James, surely? War & Peace's Natasha has proven she can play a young woman, deeply and believably in love, with real charm and beauty. She's the perfect Cosette, and she already knows the production team!

Enjorlas

Andrew Davies is known for his heartthrobs, and as leader of the revolutionaries, Enjorlas could be the dashing hero of Les Mis. Aidan Turner's abs have already transfixed most of the nation, but could Poldark lead the students into battle? How about Richard Madden? Surely, they've got to borrow from the Game of Thrones cast somewhere. Tom Hughes, soon to be seen in Victoria has got the looks but there's a hardness to him as well. Could be the man for the job.

The Thérnardiers

  
Monsieur Thérnardier? Easy. It has to be the endlessly versatile Toby Jones. Technically far more villainous than Javert, he could give a truly repulsive performance. I'm stuck between two choices for the scheming Mme. Thérnardier - both are simply phenomenal actors, capable of making a conniving husband look under the thumb, it's got to be either Sarah Lancashire or Olivia Colman.


Special thanks to Sophie, Tom, Jenny and @Crawfff for their many inspired suggestions!