Charles Dickens was born in Hampshire on February 7, 1812. His father was a clerk in the navy pay office, who was well paid but often ended up in financial troubles. When Dickens was twelve years old he was send to work in a shoe polish factory because his family had been taken to the debtors' prison. His career as a writer of fiction started in 1833 when his short stories and essays began to appear in periodicals. The Pickwick Papers, his first commercial success, was published in 1836. The serialisation of Oliver Twist began in 1837. Many other novels followed and The Old Curiosity Shop brought Dickens international fame and he became a celebrity in America as well as Britain. Charles Dickens died on 9 June 1870. He is buried in Westminster Abbey.

Dickens's last, unfinished novel is a dark tale of obsession, jealousy and betrayal. At the heart of the story is the mysterious disappearance of a young orphan called Edwin Drood, and the evidence points to murder.

There are plenty of suspects: John Jasper is infatuated with his nephew's fiancee, Rosa Bud. Fuelled by an opium addiction, could Jasper have killed his nephew and love rival? The newly arrived Neville Landless also wastes no time in declaring his adoration of Rosa Bud. Could his jealousy have driven him to murder? And then there is a whole host of suspicious characters, who may know more than they should.

Screenwriter Gwyneth Hughes has studied Dickens's clues to solve the mystery of Edwin Drood for a major new BBC adaptation. Hughes has also written an Afterword to this edition, in which she reveals what led her to write her dramatic conclusion.

Cast on the front cover (left to
right): Matthew Rhys (Jasper);
Tamzin Merchant (Rosa Bud);
Freddie Fox (Drood) | Cast
on the back cover (left to right):
Sacha Dhawan (Landless); Rory
Kinnear (Crisparkle); Alun
Armstrong (Grewgious)
Adapted by: Gwyneth Hughes.
Produced by: Lisa Osborne.
Directed by: Diarmuid Lawrence.
Executive Producer for Masterpiece: Rebecca Eaton.
Executive Producer: Anne Pivcevic.