‘Great Expectations’ recap: What happened in Episode 3?

The new adaptation of Great Expectations continued tonight!

Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight has adapted Charles Dickens’ classic novel in this six-part series for the BBC and FX.

Olivia Colman (The Crown) stars as the iconic Miss Havisham, alongside Dunkirk actor Fionn Whitehead as Pip.

They’re joined by Ashley Thomas (The Ipcress File), Johnny Harris (Medici), Shalom Brune-Franklin (The Tourist), Hayley Squires (Call the Midwife), and Matt Berry (What We Do in the Shadows).

Watch the trailer here:

Here’s a plot recap for the third episode, which premiered at 9pm on Sunday 9th April 2023 on BBC One in the UK and on Hulu in the US:

Devastated at being denied entrance to Satis House, Pip is found in a sorry state by Mr Jaggers, who tells him he has been sent by Miss Havisham and Miss Estella.

In fact, Estella doesn’t want Pip to go with Mr Jaggers, but Pip knows nothing of this and is instead wowed by the worldly presence of Jaggers and the offer he provides: a cheque for £5,000, an apartment in London and a position in his legal chambers.

Walking through the deserted corridors of the Old Bailey, Pip cannot help but be awed by the grandeur and meaning of the place, until they enter the judge’s chambers and find him hanging by the neck, no longer able to endure Jaggers’s blackmail.

Overwhelmed and out of his depth, there is nothing Pip can do. Jaggers then leaves Pip in the hands of his assistant, Mr Wemmick.

A plain-speaking clerk, Wemmick takes Pip to his new lodgings, which he will be sharing with Herbert Pocket. Wemmick tells Pip that Estella is due to be married to a very respectable man.

While Pip tries to adjust to life in London, in Australia, Magwitch has managed to track down Compeyson. They fight and Magwitch is left for dead in the Australian outback as Compeyson rides off to find passage back to England.

Back in Gravesend, those who Pip left behind are thrilled to receive letters telling of his new life.

However, Estella knows nothing of her upcoming nuptials until she reads of them in Pip’s letter. Jaggers introduces Pip to the repellent Mr Drummle, the man who is soon to be married to Estella.

If Pip will help Jaggers to ruin Drummle’s business, then Estella may be freed from her engagement.

Charles Dickens’ novel Great Expectations is available on Amazon.