'Best ever' Wuthering Heights adaptation that sparked real-life love story - The Mirror

The 2009 mini-series is currently streaming for free

As anticipation builds for filmmaker Emerald Fennell's adaptation of Emily Brontë's novel Wuthering Heights, fans have been turning their attention to a little-known mini-series based on the same book.

The 2009 series, also titled Wuthering Heights, starred a young Tom Hardy early in his career in the role of the brooding Heathcliff, while Charlotte Riley portrayed Cathy. The pair went on to marry in real-life after meeting on the set of the drama.

Also in the cast was The Walking Dead's Andrew Lincoln and Frankenstein's Burn Gorman, with Coky Giedroyc (How to Build A Girl, Oliver Twist) in the director's chair.

The series was made up of two hour-long episodes and closely followed the source material's original storyline, whereas Fennell's upcoming blockbuster is expected to offer a "bold and original imagining" of the tale.

The book tells the story of orphan Heathcliff who grows up alongside the wealthy Catherine Earnshaw. When she marries another man for status, Heathcliff has his own stripped away and runs away heartbroken, refusing to continue as a servant.

When he returns to West Yorkshire he has reinvented himself and is both rich and highly-educated. He is also intent on bringing down the families that caused him pain, making Wuthering Heights more of a revenge story than a romance.

As a fresh trailer for the new adaptation - which stars Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi - premiered yesterday (November 13), many flocked to the comments section underneath to recommend the mini-series that came before it.

"Honestly, the best version of Wuthering Heights is PBS’s version with Tom Hardy (long before he became famous from the Batman movie). That version’s Cathy is the actress Charlotte Riley whom Tom Hardy dated and married, his current wife," penned one.

A second added: "I doubt this will be as good as the version with Tom Hardy and Charlotte Riley that came out 2009 , that one is my favourite."

At time of writing, the mini-series boasts an impressive 84 per cent Rotten Tomatoes score from over 1,000 reviews. It is also now available to stream entirely for free on ITVX. Meanwhile the big-screen adaptation will be released on February 13, 2026.

You can stream 2009's Wuthering Heights for free now on ITVX