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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, January 11, 2008

Seven-program Jane Austen series starts Sunday on PBS

By Becky Krystal
Washington Post

THE COMPLETE PROGRAM SERIES

"The Complete Jane Austen" series includes a new biopic, four new adaptations and encores of two 1990s productions:

The complete program series

"The Complete Jane Austen" series includes a new biopic, four new adaptations and encores of two 1990s productions:

  • "Persuasion" (8 p.m. Sunday): Eight years ago, at the urging of her snobbish friends and family, Anne Elliot (Amanda Root) declined a marriage proposal from Capt. Wentworth (Ciaran Hinds). Now he's back from war — rich and single.

  • "Northanger Abbey" (8 p.m. Jan. 20): Catherine Morland (Felicity Jones) forms an affection for Henry Tilney, but her powerful imagination may undermine their relationship.

  • "Mansfield Park" (Jan. 27 ): Fanny Price (Billie Piper) grew up with her wealthy relatives, including cousin Edmund Bertram. New neighbors, however, threaten her happiness.

  • "Miss Austen Regrets" (Feb. 3): This biopic explores romances the unmarried Austen might have had.

  • "Pride and Prejudice" (Feb. 10, 17 and 24): Mr. Darcy (Colin Firth) and Elizabeth Bennet (Jennifer Ehle) trade barbs and misconceptions. Originally aired in 1995.

  • "Emma" (March 23): Emma Woodhouse (Kate Beckinsale) plays matchmaker while knowing little about her own desires. Originally aired in 1997.

  • "Sense and Sensibility" (March 30 and April 6): Sisters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood (Hattie Morahan and Charity Wakefield) navigate the perils of poverty and love.

    — Washington Post

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    Hold on to your teacups, Jane Austen fans: A three-month tribute to the renowned author begins Sunday on PBS.

    "The Complete Jane Austen" includes adaptations of her six finished novels, plus a dramatization of her life.

    Rebecca Eaton, executive producer of Sunday night staple "Masterpiece" (formerly "Masterpiece Theatre"), said Austen's "limited canon" made an ideal television package — quite a feat for a woman who lived from 1775 to 1817.

    Austen's heroines from 200 years ago translate well for the 21st century because they are intelligent and spunky and stand up to authority, said Marsha Huff, president of the Jane Austen Society of North America. "You can put them in modern dress and (they) still seem like people we understand," Huff said.

    Four of the book-based pieces — "Persuasion," "Northanger Abbey," "Mansfield Park" and "Sense and Sensibility" — are new. "Pride and Prejudice" and "Emma" have aired in past years on A&E.

    Eaton says what makes this set of adaptations stand apart from other versions is a focus on the uncertainties that awaited an unmarried woman and on the passion that people felt for each other despite living in a "buttoned-up" society.

    "The Complete Jane Austen" already has a built-in audience with fans of the author and regular viewers of "Masterpiece," Eaton said.

    But, she added, the universal appeal of beautiful scenery, sympathetic characters and a good love story should attract viewers unfamiliar with the novels, plus younger generations who might not typically watch the series.

    "I think that the novels are so open-ended and subtle that they allow us to speak to ourselves," said Tara Ghoshal Wallace, an associate professor and Austen scholar at George Washington University in the nation's capital.

    One reason why Austen's novels are well-suited to television adaptation, Wallace said, is that Austen is "so good at dialogue."

    "She's a scriptwriter's dream," Wallace said, "because there's so little to do."