Tom Jones writer explains major book changes made for ITV series

Screenwriter Gwyneth Hughes spoke at a recent Q&A about adapting the classic novel for the screen.

By James Hibbs

Published: Thursday, 04 May 2023 at 12:00 am

New period drama Tom Jones is now available to stream on ITVX, with the series being an adaptation of one of the oldest English-language novels in existence: The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling.

The novel has been adapted before, as a 1963 film starring Albert Finney and a 1997 series with Max Beesley amongst other projects, but fans of the original story should expect some major changes in the new iteration.

Speaking at a Q&A for the series ahead of its debut attended by RadioTimes.com and other press, screenwriter Gwyneth Hughes was asked how she cut such a long novel down to be a show made up of four hour-long episodes.

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Solly McLeod as Tom Jones in Tom Jones.
Mammoth Screen for ITV/ITVX

Hughes said: “I don’t really remember the terrible pain of that, it was a while ago. Obviously I’ve compiled a few characters, I’ve taken big chunks out of the middle. Stuff that wasn’t centrally to do with the relationship between Tom and Sofia, the meat of the romcom if you like, I sort of jumped.”

She continued: “It wasn’t actually that difficult. Famously, Tom Jones has been described as having one of the most perfect plots in the whole universe. And it is perfect, but it takes him 200 pages to unravel it and I’ve only got 200 pages for the whole project. So I did some simplification towards the end.”

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The series stars Solly McLeod in the title role as Tom, while Sophie Wilde plays his central love interest Sophia. Other major roles are filled out by the likes of James Fleet, Alun Armstrong, Shirley Henderson and Hannah Waddingham.

McLeod previously teased Ted Lasso star Waddingham’s role in the series as Lady Bellaston, saying: “What can you expect from Lady B? Naughtiness. She’s just very bad. But in a very fun way.

“You feel you’re definitely attracted to her character. Even though you’re kind of rooting for Tom and Sophia, there’s a part of you that thinks, ‘I do kind of like her as well.’ So she’s a great central villain, if you want to call her a villain – she’s not really.”