Little Women is one of the most well-known family stories in history, whether you remember reading it yourself as a child or you’ve passed it down to younger generations since.
The tale of four sisters facing dramas, love and loss as they grew up in the 1800s is still hugely successful today, and now Louisa May Alcott’s beloved novel has been adapted into a three-part TV series set to air on the ABC in the New Year, having already received incredible reviews in the UK and beyond.
Legendary 93-year-old actress Angela Lansbury takes on the role of wealthy Aunt March as she leads an all-star cast in the dramatic series, with award-winning Call The Midwife creator Heidi Thomas in charge.
The program, which first aired on the BBC in the UK last Christmas, follows the four March sisters, Meg (Willa Fitzgerald), Jo (Maya Hawke), Beth (Annes Elwy), and Amy (Kathryn Newton), as they struggle with a series of life challenges and heartbreaks while growing up under the watchful eye of their loving ‘Marmee’.
Actress Emily Watson, 51, well-known for huge movie and TV roles including War Horse and The Theory of Everything, will play Marmee as she’s left solely in charge while the girls’ father (Dylan Baker) is away at war.
Of course, all fans will recall the charming boy next door Laurie Laurence from the original novel, and actor Jonah Hauer-King will take on the role, while Harry Potter star Michael Gambon plays benevolent neighbour Mr Laurence.
A trailer, released by the BBC at the time it first aired overseas, shows each of the sisters struggle with coming of age in the 1860s while discovering first loves and heartache.
And Lansbury appears to inject some much-appreciated humour into the story as she’s seen giving a lecture on the girls growing up at one point, saying: “Small children is a recipe for heartache, headache and indigestion.”
The 1868 book has already been made into several movies and television adaptations in the past. Elizabeth Taylor starred in the 1949 movie, with the 1994 version starring Winona Ryder, Kirsten Dunst and Claire Danes while Susan Sarandon, Meredith Baxter and Eve Plumb were in the 1979 miniseries.
Little Women will premiere on the ABC on Saturday, January 5, 2019 at 7.30pm.
Proudly Australian owned and operated