Introduction

BBC ONE transports viewers back to the mean streets of Dickensian London in a thrilling new drama, packed with thieving and treachery, romance and betrayal.

Sally Hawkins, Imelda Staunton, Elaine Cassidy, Rupert Evans and Charles Dance star in Peter Ransley's three-part adaptation of Fingersmith, Sarah Waters' Booker-nominated novel.

Set in 19th-century London, Fingersmith - Victorian slang for pickpocket - tells the gripping story of a young woman who becomes embroiled in an elaborate deception and discovers that nothing is quite what it seems.

The story begins when charming con-man Richard Rivers embarks upon the most ambitious scam of his life: to defraud wealthy young heiress Maud Lilly by seducing her into eloping with him.

To achieve his aim, Rivers enlists the help of Sue Trinder.

Brought up by Mrs Sucksby in a Fagin-like den of thieves, orphan Sue is a fingersmith with a heart of gold – and the promise of a share in Maud's fortune is enough to convince her to join Rivers in his extravagant plot.