I missed out on most of Masterpiece Classics recent Complete Jane Austen. I heard mostly bad things about Mansfield Park (Billie Piper as Fanny, are they kidding? Not even the gorgeous James D'Arcy could convince me to sit through that!), so I skipped that one. I missed Persuasion and Northhanger Abbey, and I'd already seen Emma (which I really didn't care for) and the now-classic Pride and Prejudice (really, there is no other Mr. Darcy than Colin Firth!), so I ended up only seeing Sense and Sensibility. I'm glad I caught that one, at least! It was a lovely adaptation, very true to the book, and well cast. It was adapted by Andrew Davies, who did the fantastic Bleak House three years ago (now one of my favorite miniseries ever). I tried not to compare too much with the Ang Lee directed version- but the girl playing Marianne was no Kate Winslet, and I liked Hugh Grant much more as Edward than Dan Stevens (one of those British actors I keep seeing but always forget his name...). For some reason, though, I actually liked David Morrissey (from Blackpool, another favorite series of mine) as Colonel Brandon a little more than Alan Rickman's. Perhaps because he was closer to the right age...Overall, the two-parter was very successful. The sets, costumes, pacing, and script were very well done. I may have to buy the DVD! I hope Persuasion and Northhanger Abbey are repeated.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/senseandsensibility/index.html
I mentioned Bleak House...I recently re-watched that one. I'll write about it later.
One quibble about the new format of Masterpiece (formerly Masterpiece Theater)- I'm not so sure about Gillian Anderson as host. She's a wonderful actress, but as a presenter she seemed very stiff. Of course, I did only see her intros for S&S. And I don't like the re-vamped theme!
Also, they seem to have remade A Room With A View. I'm not sure I can accept anyone other than Helena Bonham Carter as Lucy! I'll check it out when it airs, though. It's become one of my favorite books.
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