Gulliver’s Travels is set to be re-adapted for a new contemporary TV series

The literary classic Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift had been adapted for the small screen in the 90s by Jim Henson and Hallmark Productions with a TV mini-series starring Ted Danson. Then, a little over a decade later, a modernized version was made with Jack Black in the role of a man who found himself in a land of micro-citizens. Variety is now reporting that the story is set to be reimagined yet again for a TV series that has been developed and written by Emmy and BAFTA-winning writer Tom Bidwell, who is known for his recent adaptation of another classic tale, Watership Down.

The new show, which is set to be a six-part mini-series, will be titled The Gullivers. Bidwell will be re-adapting the adventure alongside producers Xavier Marchand and Casey Herbert for Moonriver TV and Leo Becker for Federation Studios. The adventure series is said to be in the development stages with a major European broadcaster, and they are aiming to follow in the vein of Moonriver’s Nautilus, which had similarly taken inspiration from a Jules Verne classic story, Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea. The Gullivers will be told “through the eyes of Gulliver’s 21st century wife and children as they embark together on a lifesaving mission.”

Bidwell explained, “Few works of fiction have impacted storytelling and culture like Swift’s masterpiece. It is a work of extraordinary imagination that I have wanted to adapt for many years but was, if I’m being candid, always a little afraid to do so. The team at Moonriver and Federation have a breadth of experience adapting novels of this ambition and scale and when they approached me with the idea of a modern adaptation about Lemuel’s family I was thrilled to help them bring it to screen.”

Moonriver’s Marchand added, “Tom Bidwell’s The Gullivers promises to be an eye-popping, world-building, action-packed adventure which will delight a multi-generational audience. Swift’s timeless tale, with its iconic imagery, is an evergreen crowd-pleaser, and this fresh, contemporary take will reintroduce it to audiences in a way that feels more relevant than ever.”

Federation’s Becker would also add, “We couldn’t be more thrilled to be partnering with Moonriver to bring Tom’s exciting new vision to the screen. It’s a timeless classic we’ve been dying to revisit for some time now, and with Tom’s incomparable voice, plus our combined four-quadrant know-how, we can finally allow new generations to rediscover Swift’s ever so relevant tale.”

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