# Fingersmith (2005)

> A pickpocket maid and a secluded heiress find themselves drawn together while a swindler's plot to ruin one of them unfolds around them.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/12873

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 3
- Episode runtime: 59 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, mystery, crime
- Created by: Aisling Walsh
- Network: BBC One
- Cast: Sally Hawkins, Elaine Cassidy, Rupert Evans, Charles Dance, Imelda Staunton, Polly Hemingway, David Troughton, Sarah Badel
- TMDB rating: 7.8/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0423651/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: mild
- Tone: suspenseful, melancholic, sensual, intimate, tense

## What critics say

Audience reception is strongly positive, praising the performances and the twisting Victorian melodrama of deception and tender emotional unfolding.

## Synopsis

Fingersmith (2005) is a British BBC One period drama miniseries created by Aisling Walsh, adapted from Sarah Waters' novel and set in Victorian England. Sue Trinder (Sally Hawkins), a young pickpocket, is recruited by a swindler posing as a gentleman, Richard Rivers (Rupert Evans), to infiltrate the countryside estate of a wealthy heiress, Maud Lilly (Elaine Cassidy). Sue takes a job as the heiress's maid, and the household is ruled by Maud's domineering uncle, Mr. Christopher Lilly (Charles Dance). The con is meant to lead to an elopement, a fortune stolen and Maud locked away, but the scheme is built on lies and class divides that the women cannot ignore. Across three hour-long episodes, the plot shifts with layered reveals, shadowy motives and cunning double dealing, with a lush, suspenseful and emotionally charged tone. Its atmosphere mixes melancholic intimacy with sharp Victorian menace, and its intrigue unfolds in London backstreets and the isolated estate. Fans of The Crimson Petal and the White, The Handmaiden and Gosford Park will find resonance in its period detail, female-centered deception and class tension. Its story is complete in a single season.

## Shows like Fingersmith

- [Joan (2024)](https://ember.film/tv/135071)
- [Parade's End (2012)](https://ember.film/tv/36399)
- [Belgravia (2020)](https://ember.film/tv/72935)
- [The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1996)](https://ember.film/tv/36169)
- [Harlots (2017)](https://ember.film/tv/60904)
- [Belgravia: The Next Chapter (2024)](https://ember.film/tv/132612)
- [Oliver Twist (2007)](https://ember.film/tv/12408)
- [Great Expectations (2011)](https://ember.film/tv/38838)
- [Tipping the Velvet (2002)](https://ember.film/tv/12947)
- [Tess of the D'Urbervilles (2008)](https://ember.film/tv/7475)

---

Site overview: https://ember.film/llms.txt