‘Tom Jones’ trailer: New period drama romance from makers of ‘Victoria’

PBS has unveiled the first trailer for the upcoming TV adaptation of Tom Jones!

From the production company behind Poldark and Victoria, the four-part period drama is based on Henry Fielding’s classic 1749 novel.

Vanity Fair screenwriter Gwyneth Hughes has written the scripts for the PBS and ITV series.

Leading the cast are newcomers Solly McLeod (The Rising) and Sophie Wilde (You Don’t Know Me) as our hero Tom and heroine Sophia Western.

Here’s a clip from the first episode:

They’re joined by an incredible cast of familiar faces, including James Fleet (The Vicar of Dibley), Alun Armstrong (New Tricks), Shirley Henderson (Harry Potter), Pearl Mackie (Doctor Who), Felicity Montagu (The Durrells), Janine Duvitski (Benidorm), Dean Lennox Kelly (Shameless), and Julian Rhind-Tutt (Britannia).

We’re particularly excited to see Emmy award-winning Ted Lasso star Hannah Waddingham playing the seductive and vengeful Lady Bellaston.

Executive producer Susanne Simpson has described the “joyful” new adaptation of Tom Jones as “a big-hearted rom-com that will absolutely delight our viewers … full of laughter and romance.”

This sounds like exactly what we all need from our Sunday nights right now!

Tom Jones will premiere in the US on PBS Masterpiece this spring, and streaming on ITVX in the UK.

A lavish two-minute preview has just been released by PBS, and it certainly looks like the series lives up to director Georgia Parris’ previous promise of “an escapist romp.”

Watch a teaser here:

Tom Jones began filming in the autumn of 2021 in the Belfast area of Northern Ireland.

Director Georgia Parris previously explained what attracted her to the project: “It is an intimate story that shows how love and desire drive and confound us all, both women and men.”

She said back before filming began: “I can’t wait to get started on telling this classic story, one of the first ever English novels, and making it resonate with a modern audience.”

Take a look at the full extended trailer from Masterpiece here:

Tom Jones was previously made into an Oscar-winning movie in 1963, starring Albert Finney and Susannah York – sixty years ago now!

The BBC then produced a TV adaptation in 1997, featuring the likes of Max Beesley, Brian Blessed, Samantha Morton, Frances de la Tour, and Peter Capaldi.

Henry Fielding’s Tom Jones novel is available on Amazon.