MGM+’s ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ Trailer Feels Terribly Timely
A new take on Charles Dickens's classic tale of love and redemption arrives in September.
In the world of British TV, there are a few sure things when it comes to adaptations. Jane Austen is always a safe bet. New versions of Pride & Prejudice and Sense & Sensibility are headed our way before the end of 2026, and BritBox found considerable success with The Other Bennet Sister earlier in the year. Charles Dickens tends to run a close second – think about how many versions of A Christmas Carol or Great Expectations you’ve seen. But his most successful story is also his least frequently adapted.
A Tale of Two Cities has sold somewhere upward of 200 million copies since its publication in 1859. Even so, it’s been over thirty years since we’ve seen an adaptation of it on the screen — big or small. MGM+ is here to fix that. The streamer’s new four-part limited series is set to premiere in September, and if the trailer is anything to go by, it’s giving it the full-on prestige drama treatment.
Set during the lead-up to the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror, A Tale of Two Cities follows the story of an unjustly imprisoned doctor, the daughter who thought he was dead, a French aristocrat determined to renounce his heritage, and a cynical lawyer. Modern audiences who only vaguely remember the book’s plot twists from English class may be surprised by the story’s timely themes, which wrestle with questions of sacrifice, transformation, and justice.
Here’s the series’ synopsis.
London, 1782. Tensions run high in the war between France and Britain. A young woman, Lucie Manette, has her life upended when she receives a message from Paris - her father, assumed dead for almost 20 years, may be alive. The messenger - idealistic French emigré, Charles Darnay - is arrested and charged with treason. Lucie enlists the help of a brilliant but erratic young lawyer, Sydney Carton, to free Darnay in the hope he will lead her to Paris to track down her father.
Lucie’s collision with Darnay and Carton unleashes a powerful and complex love triangle. Both men fight to be worthy of her love and Lucie is torn over which one to choose. Yet neither man - physically so alike, spiritually poles apart - can escape the other. Instead, they find themselves bound together in life and death, through triumphs, tragedies, marriage, and murder.
Kit Harington, Mirren Mack, and François Civil in 'A Tale of Two Cities' (MGM+)
The series stars Game of Thrones alum Kit Harington as Sydney Carton, Mirren Mack (Miss Austen) as Lucie Manette, and François Civil (The Three Musketeers Part 1: D’Artagnan) as Charles Darnay.
The four-part limited series is written by Daniel West (Gunpowder) and directed by Richard Clark (Outlander), with Simon Meyers producing. Executive producers include West and Harington for Thriker Films, Polly Williams and Sarah Best for Federation Stories, and Léo Becker for Federation Studio France.
A Tale of Two Cities will premiere on Sunday, September 6, 2026, with weekly releases to follow through the end of the month.
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