Peter and Wendy - Advance Preview, Dialogue Teasers + Photos

© ITV Pictures
It isn’t Christmas without a little spark of magic in the TV line up, and this fresh new retelling of the classic tale from the pen of Adrian Hodges is sure to hold you spellbound on Boxing Day evening. It stays very faithful to the book, while at the same time breathing new life into the telling of the story by relating it to a young girl, who finds herself drawn to the character of Peter Pan.



Twelve year old Lucy (Hazel Doupe) arrives at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London for a lifesaving operation, reluctantly accompanied by her over protective mother (Laura Fraser), whom she feels doesn’t need to chaperone her. Having been born with a hole in her heart, and now needing further emergency surgery to replace the valves, she finds herself questioning her own mortality – will she never have a chance to grow up? Not that she would ever reveal this to anyone around her. Instead her dreams become entangled up in the book she finds herself reading to the rest of the ward while she waits for her operation.

All the characters in her dream are played by people Lucy knows in her real life, from her mother, to the other children on the ward, her surgeon, Mr Whlie (Stanley Tucci), and even the pop star Paloma Faith that she has been watching on her tablet. As the film progresses, Lucy’s health takes a turn for the worse and she imagines the fantasy world encroaching more and more into her reality. This makes for some surreal visuals when a hospital bed becomes a pirate ship’s plank, the crow’s nest appears in the middle of the ward for Hook and the Lost Boys to fight around, or the bedside machine’s beeps turn into the ticking of the crocodile.

It’s a highly enjoyable adaptation, which also cleverly highlights the unique relationship that exists between the original novel and Great Ormond Street Hospital. For those not in the know, Barrie gifted all royalties from the book to them back in 1929, which they now hold in perpetuity. Hazel Doupe (Ripper Street) was the stand out during the auditions, and it’s easy to see why she was picked, she carries the film magnificently on her young shoulders playing the dual role of Lucy and Wendy.

Zachary Sutcliffe (Grimsby) also deserves praise for his characterisation of the playful, yet oft times moody or pessimistic Peter Pan. Stanley Tucci (The Hunger Games, Metropolis) takes on three parts in all - Lucy’s surgeon, Wendy’s father and the dastardly Captain Hook - however he successfully establishes each of the roles as completely different characters. His Hook has to be my favourite though, as it’s pitched perfectly as the villain you love to hate.


Peter & Wendy airs on Boxing Day at 8pm on ITV, below are a few dialogue teasers and the promotional photos to see you through until then.


“If I save you, will you be my mother?”

“I’m actually enjoying this. Tinkerbell is such a total bitch though. Sorry”

“Is that why you're a black hearted villain Captain, because your mother didn't love you?”

“My mother wants me to be an accountant. It’s a steady career, with a nice pension”

“What if there is no other time? What if this is my last chance, ever?”

“When I did go back, the window was closed. There was another little boy sleeping in my bed. My mother had forgotten all about me”

“And don’t start crying again mum, you know you get stuff coming out of your nose”

“I can’t. Peter, I want to, so much, but I can’t”

“Fairies, come on? Alright, I believe. Gosh! Just do not tell my mates”

“Mermaids have the brain of a halibut. They don’t understand that we can’t breathe underwater”

About the Author - Sandi

Sandi is part of the Senior Staff at SpoilerTV having been a contributor from back in the Lost days of DarkUFO, and who now writes previews for Banshee, The Musketeers, Poldark, and other UK shows. She also enjoys watching and commenting on other shows such as Vikings, Orphan Black, Game of Thrones and The Flash.

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