Ladies behind the ‘Little Women’

“Little Women”, the highlight of the BBC’s Christmas schedule, and the adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel appropriately puts women front and center on screen and behind the camera. The team behind the three-parter is helmed by Vanessa Caswill (“Thirteen”), written by Heidi Thomas (“Call the Midwife”), and produced by Susie Liggat (“Fortitude”).

Former HBO executive Colin Callender’s production company Playground made the show and, along with the BBC and PBS Masterpiece, is hoping for a big family hit beginning Tuesday evening in the UK, although the story resonates particularly strongly with women, executive producer Sophie Gardiner said.

“We sought out the best people for the job, which in this instance resulted in a female-led team,” she said. “Whenever you are casting, you need people who can properly connect and engage with the material. With ‘Little Women’ it seemed the people who connected with it most simply and most clearly and knew what it was really about – how girls become women – were women.”