Wives and Daughters is a novel by Elizabeth Gaskell, first published in the Cornhill Magazine as a serial from August 1864 to January 1866. When Mrs Gaskell died suddenly in 1865, it was not quite complete, and the last section was written by Frederick Greenwood.
The story revolves around Molly Gibson, only daughter of a widowed doctor living in a provincial English town in the 1830s.
Wives and Daughters is a BBC serial adapted from the novel Wives and Daughters: An Everyday Story by Victorian author Elizabeth Gaskell.
The programme, which originally aired in 1999, was written by Andrew Davies; produced by Sue Birtwistle, Rebecca Eaton, Rupert Ryle-Hodges, and Jane Tranter; and directed by Nicholas Renton. The miniseries featured the acting talents of Justine Waddell, Bill Paterson, Francesca Annis, Keeley Hawes, Rosamund Pike, Tom Hollander, Anthony Howell, Michael Gambon, Penelope Wilton, Barbara Flynn, Deborah Findlay, Iain Glen, Barbara Leigh-Hunt, and Ian Carmichael.
The lavish production required more than 1,000 costumes and up to 40 hairstyles for each of the leading ladies.
