A Tale of Two Cities is a British television series which first aired on BBC 1 in 1980. It is an adaptation of the novel A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. Paul Shelley plays the duel roles of Sydney Carton and Charles Darnay, the first actor to do so since William Farnum in the 1917 silent adaptation. Two weeks later, an American production was released featuring Chris Sarandon in the same duel roles.It is the only BBC adaptation known to exist entirely.