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T10 WHATS UP! April 21 - 27, 2019 lice inspector who makes it his mission to see that Valjean is never truly free, and Lily Col- lins ("The Last Tycoon") plays Fantine Thibault, a factory worker and mother to Cosette (Ellie Bamber, "Nocturnal An- imals," 2016) who must resort to menial work in order to sur- vive in post-revolutionary France. They are joined by Ad- eel Akhtar ("Counterpart") and Oscar winner Olivia Col- man ("The Crown") as Mon- sieur and Madame Thénardi- er, respectively, Derek Jacobi ("Murder on the Orient Ex- press," 2017) as Bishop Myriel and a bevy of other ultra-tal- ented actors. Adapted by Andrew Davies ("House of Cards") and direct- ed by Tom Shankland ("The Missing"), the latest "Les Mi- sérables" miniseries does not include any of the world-fa- mous songs from the legend- ary stage musical, but instead opts to focus on the original source material of Hugo's nov- el. It looks and feels like no other adaptation, and is espe- cially different from the last major "Les Mis" production, Tom Hooper's 2012 blockbust- er film. At the Television Critics As- sociation (TCA) Winter Press Tour, award-winning screen- writer Davies spoke to the stunned crowd about his dis- dain for what most consider one of the greatest stage musi- cals of all time: "I absolutely hated the musical," he said, add- ing that he wanted to rescue what he considered to be a great book. While the gifted scribe doesn't typically adapt stories like "Les Misérables," he saw something in the source material that called to him, spe- cifically the cat-and-mouse re- lationship between the two leads. Moreover, he was not in- timidated by the renowned novel like many others have been: "I thought I wanted to have a go at it. I'm an old man, I don't get scared. I've faced down many great books. This is just another great book." The six-part miniseries fea- tures a modern take on the French classic. It showcases an ethnically diverse cast, various British accents, and focuses on rebellion, poverty and the day- to-day struggle of ordinary peo- ple, making it incredibly rele- vant to today's world. These de- cisions were made not only to differentiate it from its prede- cessors, but to make the story resonate with audiences. Jean Valjean's extraordinary journey of redemption during a time of civil unrest has be- come amazingly important in today's world. As previously mentioned, PBS's "Les Mi- sérables" deals with many cur- rent problems in our society but also digs deep into themes that dominate our political discourse, such as class, in- equality, wealth, the judicial system and the prison industry. "Les Misérables" is consid- ered one of the greatest literary works of all time from one of the greatest authors, and it's easy to see why. Jean Valjean's inspirational arc of destitution, struggle and redemption is as captivating now as it was when the novel was published 157 years ago. If we take a close look around us, we will find real hu- man beings that mirror the characters of Valjean, Javert, Fantine, Cosette and the Thé- nardiers in our everyday life — these characters are not just ab- stract concepts or caricatures, but depictions of real qualities and struggles found in the lives of men and women that we know personally. On Sunday, April 21, take a trip through time with a new episode of "Les Misérables," on PBS. Lily Collins as seen in "Les Misérables" continued from page T2 Updating a classic: Stars shine bright in 'Les Misérables' TV FEATURE