'The Mystery of Edwin Drood': Why should you watch?

We think we know Charles Dickens, don't we? Oliver Twist? Check. A Christmas Carol? Check. Great Expectations? Check. Bleak House? Check. But when it comes to The Mystery of Edwin Drood, there's no harm in twiddling your hair and mumbling something about you-think-you've-heard-of-that-one-but-haven't-quite-got-round-to-it-yet.

Luckily for us, BBC Two's splashed out on a brand new adaptation of the novel, which just happens to be Dickens's last. And, what's more, the book was never even finished before Dickens died, giving writer Gwyneth Hughes the perfect opportunity to have fun with it.

We've already brought you a chat with star Matthew Rhys (yes, him out of Brothers & Sisters!), but if you're still umming and ahhing, let us - and some of the other cast members - persuade you to give it a go!

What's it all about?
Here we go - Edwin Drood (Freddie Fox) is engaged to marry the wonderfully-named Rosa Bud (Tamzin Merchant), but unfortunately all is not well in romance land. Things aren't exactly helped by Edwin's uncle John Jasper (that's Matthew), who's obsessed with poor Rosa and also just happens to be a wee bit addicted to opium. Which leads us to...



This is not your standard Dickens
"This is the type of Dickens that I was so unused to," Freddie tells us, and he's got a point. If you think you know period drama - all cosy and comforting - you might want to steel yourself for The Mystery of Edwin Drood, which is all shadows and hallucinations and darkness.

Freddie took inspiration for one bit of the first episode (which we won't spoil) from Saving Private Ryan, for goodness' sake, and adds that filming in St Bart's cathedral in Smithfield was both "nuts" and "dominating".

"You can easily get scared by that place," he explains. "It's such a gothic, atmospheric place." And just to add to all that feeling of darkness, there's a huge storm in episode one ("When you read the book, there's a very specific description that the clock hands are bent because the wind is so strong," Freddie says. "So the storm has to be intense. You have to get a feeling from that storm that it's capable of doing some damage.")

Perfect winter television, then? Freddie certainly thinks so. "You can snuggle in," he promises us.

It's a "psychological" thriller...
Mind you, you might not be able to get too comfortable - this is a disturbing kind of show. Let's bring in Sacha Dhawan, who stars as yet another love rival for Edwin - Neville.

"There's real darkness [in the show], which I was really excited about," he explains. "Gwyneth doesn't write reams of dialogue - there's so much subtext there. So there's so much going on all the time so you don't know where it's going, so you watch and you go, 'Where's this going?' and suddenly you're just caught up with all the characters."

Freddie agrees: "Even though it's a whodunnit and it keeps you on the edge of your seat because it's got a cliffhanger at the end of episode one, it takes its time. It matures over the period of the first episode, and then goes kind of helter skelter in the second episode... It leads you on a psychological journey that you're never quite sure where you are and allows you to make your own mind up. I think that's very brave."



The characters are all interesting...
So it's a slow-burner, but the characters themselves are all pretty engaging too. Take Edwin, who Freddie is at pains to explain is not always the nicest guy in the world.

"This guy is someone who is infinitely dislikeable in moments," he grins. "And sort of broken-hearted and rather sweet and charming in others... I wanted to give him bits of both."

As for Sacha, he admits that Neville can get a wee bit angry at times. "But you've got to find a way to make the audience love them as well," he points out. "So I was quite adamant with Neville that I wanted to find a reason why he was angry, and also show some of his vulnerability as well." (Plus, he says, there's a lot of "mystery" to Neville and his twin sister Helena... exciting!)

And let's not put too fine a point on it - Neville and Edwin do not get on (Sacha says it's a "male rivalry"). We're talking fight scenes! "Edwin is a guy that really has everything that Neville would love to have," Sacha says.

"He has the looks, he has the girl, he has the money, he dresses better than me, so immediately it's an instant hatred... And also I feel like both Helena and Neville are both very strong and they hate being looked down upon so as soon as someone does that they have to put them in their place."

So how does Neville put Edwin in his place, exactly? Prepare for some combat! "The stunt guy was like, 'Your timing's fine, just go straight for the face, he'll move!'" Sacha laughs. "So I had to go straight for the face and Freddie either moves back or he's getting it. I think there's one point where I skinned his nose - it looks great though!"



Plus there's some much needed light relief
There is some humour in the drama - and most of it comes from Rory Kinnear's endlessly loveable character, the fabulously named Reverend Septimus Crisparkle (described by Rory as "so consistently warm and open and loving despite what must be frustrations within himself of living with his mother and being by himself and dealing with people like John and people who make life difficult for themselves, but at all times trying to see the good in people".)

Yep, Rory thinks Septimus is "sweet" and the "necessary light" in the show (plus, excitingly, "he comes more into his own in the second part as well").

"Having played a few slightly warped baddies, people with great internal struggles, then to have someone whose output in life was so relentlessly positive gave me something new to do," he explains.

What's more, Rory has a lot of screen time with the fabulous Julia McKenzie, who's playing his mum. "It's that sense of relentless cake and jollity," Rory jokes. "She's always of a similar age and similar look to my mother, and I've always in my mind associated my mother with Julia McKenzie from a very young boy, so to actually be able to fulfil those expectations..."

We'll definitely get an ending!
Let's make something clear - Gwyneth hasn't wimped out. Nope, we've definitely got an ending, even if Dickens didn't quite make it there himself. And you know what? It sounds like a goodie.

"You won't see it coming," Freddie grins. "I was like, 'Sold'. It's horrible when you build to a point and you go, 'Come on, satisfy me' and it just falls short. But this hits it."

Freddie also teases that we might be able to get clues to the ending from episode one, but warns we shouldn't be too smug. He says: "Because I know, it seems so glaringly obvious to me. But you're playing with very intangible stakes, which are addiction and different perceptions when you're drugged out. As an audience, you're never going to be able to quite guess what's one and what's the other. You will not guess what's happening because it's not only one twist - there's another twist."

Rory also hinted at surprises (while joking that he is "under pressure not to reveal anything"), but promised: "Yes, there is a big twist and yes, it does take you aback.

"I think the skill that Gwyneth has shown is that while there is a twist, you don't actually know where Gwyneth kicks in and Dickens takes his bow."



The Mystery of Edwin Drood begins tonight at 9pm on BBC Two.