<p>Dickens, loved around the globe for classics like 'Great Expectations', 'Oliver Twist', 'Hard Times' and 'David Copperfield', wrote only half of the psychological thriller before his death on June 9, 1870.<br /><br />And now Gwyneth Hughes, known for his TV thrillers 'Five Days' and 'Miss Austen Regrets', has taken on the difficult task of completing the story for a BBC Two drama, due to be broadcast in the bicentenary of Dickens's birth next year, the Telegraph reported.<br /><br />"The tragedy of the erotically obsessed cathedral choirmaster, John Jasper, throbs with sexual menace, murder and opium addiction. But alongside his story runs a brilliant small-town social comedy which is often laugh-out-loud funny. After all, this is Dickens, the great emotional extremist, and master of the rollercoaster ride. It's just the most enormous fun," Hughes said.<br /><br />In the show, Matthew Rhys will star as Jasper, who becomes obsessed with 17-year-old Rosa Bud (Tamzin Merchant). A secret opium-addict, Jasper develops a murderous hatred for Bud's betrothed, his nephew Edwin Drood (Freddie Fox).<br /><br />The BBC insists the story remains relevant some 140 years after its conception, billing the two-part drama as "a strange, disturbing and modern tale about drugs, stalking and darkness visible."<br /><br />The show has been directed by Diarmuid Lawrence of the 'Emma' fame.</p>
<p>Dickens, loved around the globe for classics like 'Great Expectations', 'Oliver Twist', 'Hard Times' and 'David Copperfield', wrote only half of the psychological thriller before his death on June 9, 1870.<br /><br />And now Gwyneth Hughes, known for his TV thrillers 'Five Days' and 'Miss Austen Regrets', has taken on the difficult task of completing the story for a BBC Two drama, due to be broadcast in the bicentenary of Dickens's birth next year, the Telegraph reported.<br /><br />"The tragedy of the erotically obsessed cathedral choirmaster, John Jasper, throbs with sexual menace, murder and opium addiction. But alongside his story runs a brilliant small-town social comedy which is often laugh-out-loud funny. After all, this is Dickens, the great emotional extremist, and master of the rollercoaster ride. It's just the most enormous fun," Hughes said.<br /><br />In the show, Matthew Rhys will star as Jasper, who becomes obsessed with 17-year-old Rosa Bud (Tamzin Merchant). A secret opium-addict, Jasper develops a murderous hatred for Bud's betrothed, his nephew Edwin Drood (Freddie Fox).<br /><br />The BBC insists the story remains relevant some 140 years after its conception, billing the two-part drama as "a strange, disturbing and modern tale about drugs, stalking and darkness visible."<br /><br />The show has been directed by Diarmuid Lawrence of the 'Emma' fame.</p>