After J.K. Rowling completed the Harry Potter novels, fans were anticipating what the author would publish next. When THE CASUAL VACANCY hit bookshelves, most fans were underwhelmed by the sprawling novel about a small British town and the soap opera occurring behind closed doors. The book was well written but unlike anything involving wizards, curses, wands, and witches. But, after a few years developing, the first trailer for the BBC adaptation of THE CASUAL VACANCY has been unveiled.
At first glance, you will clearly notice how visually different this looks compared to Harry Potter. Despite the inclusion of Dumbledore himself, Michael Gambon, THE CASUAL VACANCY looks like any of a number of BBC and American television series. There is not much here that really sets it apart from any other show, not even the dramatic undertones and hints in this teaser.
Featuring Rory Kinnear (Skyfall), Simon McBurney (Mission: Impossible 5), and Michael Gambon (the Harry Potter films), “The Casual Vacancy” centers on Pagford, a seemingly idyllic English village with a cobbled market square and ancient abbey. Behind the pretty façade, however, is a town at war: rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils.
Fans of British soap operas and dramas like DOWNTON ABBEY are likely to enjoy the heck out of THE CASUAL VACANCY while everyone else will probably just want to see if there are any potential connections to Harry Potter or anyone else. At the very least, maybe it will turn you into an Anglophile.
The three episode mini-series is a joint production between BBC and HBO, so I would expect to see this get a pretty big rollout here in the United States after it airs on BBC beginning February15th.