The Casual Vacancy - BBC series changes Rowling book

J.K. Rowling TV mini-series features rape, drug abuse and racism, but it's not as grim as the book

Casual Vacancy
(Image credit: BBC)

A new television mini-series based on J.K. Rowling's best-selling novel, The Casual Vacancy, will screen on BBC One this Sunday night. The Casual Vacancy, published in 2012, was Rowling's first adult novel following her phenomenally successful Harry Potter children's book series.

It sold well but received mixed reviews when it was released, with one Telegraph writer calling it “so howlingly bleak that it makes Thomas Hardy look like PG Wodehouse”.The story was also a little too dark for the BBC, and producers at the broadcaster have reportedly taken some liberties with the narrative. So what can viewers expect?

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