First trailer for Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell offers some peculiar magic

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

They can sure pack a lot into a one-minute trailer these days and this first glimpse at the BBC's adaptation of Susanna Clarke‘s novel "Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell" does exactly that.

This new mini-series is set in Napoleonic England hundreds of years after practical magic has apparently died out; what remains is a group of "theoretical magicians" who are unable to cast a single spell and merely fill the days discussing the long lost art, but the arrival of two very different magicians is set to change all that.

While it may be brief, this trailer for Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell really excels at building a world full of strange and wonderful characters, including the always talented Eddie Marsan, that leave me desperately wanting to find out more; mission accomplished.

The official synopsis:

Set at the beginning of the 19th-century, England no longer believes in practical magic. The reclusive Mr Norrell (Marsan) of Hurtfew Abbey stuns the city of York when he causes the statues of York Cathedral to speak and move. With a little persuasion and help from his man of business Childermass (Enzo Cilenti), he goes to London to help the government in the war against Napoleon. It is there Norrell summons a fairy (Warren) to bring Lady Pole (Englert) back from the dead, opening a whole can of worms…

It looks like I'll have to make another addition to my long-list of TV series I need to watch this year, it's a good thing I don't have a life. The seven episode mini-series will premiere on BBC One in May. There's no date set for the American release but it's expected to premiere on BBC America this summer.