Great Expectations welcomes a House of The Dragon star this week

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WARNING: This article contains spoilers from BBC’s Great Expectations

Episode three of Great Expectations airs tonight (April 9) on BBC One at 9pm. This week Pip Gargery (played by Fionn Whitehead) will be thrown headlong into London life as he endeavours to become a gentleman. As Pip gets his hands dirty alongside corrupt lawyer Mr Jaggers (Ashley Thomas), audiences will be meeting some new characters.

Who plays Mr Dummle in Great Expectations?

Among the figures joining the show this week is Mr Bentley Drummle, a most unsavoury figure who has an affinity with Mr Jaggers.

Pip’s path will cross with Mr Drummle in his line of work with Jaggers, leaving the former blacksmith’s boy reeling.

If Mr Drummle looks familiar, this is because he’s played by British actor Matthew Needham, who gave a scene-stealing performance in House of the Dragon as the duplicitous Lord Larys Strong last year.

Fans of the Game of Thrones prequel series will remember Lord Larys was willing to sacrifice his own family for power and even had a foot fetish with Queen Alicent (Olivia Cooke) obliging him.

Needham, 38, is also known for his role in ITV’s Sanditon as Mr Crowe and plays Toby De Silva in Casualty.

Some of his smaller projects include Sherlock, The Hollow Crown, Chernobyl, Doctor Who, Endeavour and The Ritual.

Needham appeared in the Oscar-winning film Stutterer in 2015, which bagged the award for Best Live Action Short Film.

The actor is also known for his theatre work in productions staged at the Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal Court Theatre, Royal National Theatre, Almeida Theatre and Shakespeare’s Globe.

According to IMDb, Needham will next be in Napoleon which is in post-production and a new version of Much Ado About Nothing in which he plays Benedick.

He is also expected to be reprising his role as Lord Larys in season two of House of the Dragon, which was previously renewed by HBO.

Who is in the cast of Great Expectations episode 3?

Herbert – Parth Thakerar

Parth Thakerar appears as the grown up version of Herbert and took over the role from Jairaj Varsani.

Young Herbert was the boy Young Pip (Tom Sweet) was forced to fight in the first episode of the period drama after Young Estella (Chloe Lea) introduced the pair.

Thakerar has appeared in Sky’s Gangs of London, BBC’s Vigil, Brassic, The Weekend Away, Starstruck and Suspicion.

He’s also had parts in Grantchester, Midsomer Murders, The Good Karma Hospital, Doc Martin and Brave New World.

Wemmick – Rudi Dharmalingam

After making a small appearance earlier in the series, Rudi Dharmalingam makes his debut in earnest as Wemmick, Mr Jaggers’ faithful assistant.

Dharmalingam has appeared in The Lazarus Project, In the Shadow of the Moon, Wakefield, Strike Back and The Cleaner.

He’s also appeared in The Split, Dark Money, Our Girl, Rellik and will be appearing next in Role Play, which is in post-production.

Other cast members in the episode will include Shalom Brune-Franklin as Estella, Olivia Colman as Miss Havisham, Hayley Squires as Sara Gargery, Owen McDonnell as Joe Gargery, Johnny Harris as Magwitch and Trystan Gravelle as Compeyson.

Great Expectations is expected to have more characters joining the show as the story unfurls.

Jaggers star Thomas opened up about the casting on the series, calling it “outside of the box”.

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He said: “People can see themselves in a piece like this where they may have been excluded previously just because of the nature of the way the world was at the time. London at that time was a melting pot of different cultures.

“You had people from Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean, even before the Windrush era. I think it is important that these shows show that representation. I don’t think it’s about being woke, it’s just about being accurate to the time. This team have really endeavoured to make that happen.

“Even in the book, Jaggers is described as a burly man and of exceedingly dark complexion, so it’s interesting the casting choice that they have gone with on this occasion. Representation is key and that’s across the board, whether that’s where someone is from, their sexual orientation, or religious background.”

Adding: “It’s more true to life and better for the authenticity of projects. I don’t think we should shy away from that. We should embrace it where we can, where possible, and where it makes sense.”

Great Expectations airs on BBC One on Sundays at 9pm

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