BBC joins Working Title for Jane Eyre adaptation starring Aimee Lou Wood

The BBC has joined Working Title’s new television adaptation of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, with Aimee Lou Wood set to lead the series as the classic novel’s heroine.

The BBC is attached to develop the project and serve as its broadcaster-financier. Working Title is producing the adaptation, which has been written by Miriam Battye, a WGA Award winner for her work on Succession.

Wood, known for The White Lotus and Sex Education, was previously announced as Jane Eyre. The character is an orphan whose coming-of-age story follows her search for love, independence and social equality in 19th-century England.

The adaptation will explore the novel’s themes surrounding class, sexuality, religion and feminism, with another major role set to be that of Mr Rochester, the master of Thornfield Hall.

Jane Eyre has previously been adapted for both film and television. Ruth Wilson starred in the BBC’s 2006 television adaptation, while Mia Wasikowska played Jane in Cary Fukunaga’s 2011 film. Charlotte Gainsbourg portrayed the character in Franco Zeffirelli’s 1996 adaptation.

The new series is being developed ahead of the 180th anniversary of Brontë’s novel, which will take place in 2027.

Wood is currently building on her recent work in The White Lotus, for which she received Emmy, SAG and Golden Globe nominations for its third season. She is also in post-production on Anxious People with Angelina Jolie and has been cast as photographer Pattie Boyd in Sam Mendes’ Beatles films.

Working Title is also preparing Sense and Sensibility, starring Daisy Edgar-Jones, while the company recently collaborated with Lena Dunham on the Netflix series Too Much.