(Photo: Getty Images)
Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes has produced a new audio adaptation of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, and he's assembled quite a cast.
As Deadline reports, the Dickens adaptation features Brian Cox as Fagin, Daniel Kaluuya as Bill Sikes, Nicola Coughlan as Nancy, and Emilio Villa-Muhammad (The Man Who Fell to Earth) as Oliver. Also lending their voices to the Audible Original drama are Gangs of London's Paapa Essiedu, Ted Lasso's Nick Mohammed, Motherland's Diane Morgan, Heartstopper's Kit Connor, and Gavin & Stacey's Julia Davis.
Interestingly, the series features sound effects recorded at Dickens' London home, 48 Doughty Street in King's Cross, in the rooms where he wrote Oliver Twist back in the late 1830s. It's the first of three Dickens adaptations that Mendes is producing for Audible.
"Dickens was the ultimate storyteller, and hearing Oliver Twist come to life in such a compelling, 3D way feels exactly how he might have wanted it to be experienced," Mendes said. "The cast is fantastic, and I’ve never heard an audio production before that is so filmic. It’s cinema for the ears."
Kaluuya added:  "There are few villains as infamous or terrifying as Bill Sikes, and I really enjoyed getting the chance to record a new take on him for Audible. Keep the lights on – some of his scenes are really dark."
Mendes' adaptation is available to stream from today (November 30). Of course, whether you keep the lights on or not is entirely up to you.
Will you be giving the new Oliver Twist a listen?