feature in 1948, and it was a BBC miniseries in 1982. Nor were they the first: it was first adapted as a low-budget Warner Bros.

Not only it is one of the earliest iterations of the mystery and detective novel genre, BBC and the program formerly known as “Masterpiece Theatre” also tackled it in 1997, as a TV movie. Inevitably, “The Woman in White” can feel familiar. ‘White House Plumbers’ Review: Woody Harrelson & Justin Theroux Make Fine Stooges in Watergate Farce Here he creates a beautiful yet dangerous world, in which treachery lies just behind closed doors. Meanwhile, Carl Tibbets departs from his sci-fi directing resume that includes two episodes of “Black Mirror,” “Humans,” and the upcoming Amazon series “The Feed” for this foray into the 1800s. Like that project, “The Woman in White” explores the frustrations of a society that doesn’t listen to women or believe in their peril. The update comes from writer Fiona Seres, who returns to PBS after adapting “The Lady Vanishes” in 2013 from the Ethel Lina White novel that also produced Alfred Hitchcock’s classic 1938 film. Despite its period setting, the dangerous consequences of gender inequality make this story disturbingly relevant. She and her half-sister Marian Halcombe (Jessie Buckley) become embroiled in a grand conspiracy that also involves a mentally ill woman dressed in white.

Set in Victorian England, the gothic tale examines the twisted circumstances surrounding the arranged marriage between young heiress Laura Fairlie (Olivia Vinall) and the much older Sir Percival Glyde (Dougray Scott). The BBC-produced “ The Woman in White,” premiering on PBS, turns the oft-adapted Wilkie Collins novel into a five-hour miniseries and creates the most feminist version to date.

The woman in white novel