Austenprose – A Jane Austen Blog

Oh joy! In less than a month, the Masterpiece Classic season begins on PBS offering another incredible lineup of quality period and contemporary drama’s. This is my favorite time of year for television and this season certainly aims to please offering some old classics and new surprises.

Masterpiece is branching out a bit this year in scope. Not only will we enjoy new adaptations of classic bonnet drama’s set in Regency and Victorian times, we will be offered more contemporary fare from the twentieth century. I am intrigued by the diversity of stories chosen and the top notch casting. Which new productions this season am I looking forward to with rapt anticipation? Well, of course as a Jane Austen enthusiast I am excited about the new adaptation Emma, but also a return to the delightful Victorian village of Cranford, and a certain dashing and adventurous British army officer in a red coat, Richard Sharpe. La!

I look forward to many Sunday evenings curled up in front of the tellie with a glass of wine and giddy expectation of some excellent entertainment. Here is a preview of the winter-spring season. Actress Laura Linney hosts the broadcasts, airing Sundays, 9:00 p.m. ET on PBS.

Cranford (Encore Presentation) – December 20, 2009-January 3, 2010

Adapted from Elizabeth Gaskell’s popular novel set in a small English village in 1842 on the brink of change — where some find romance and opportunity, and others fear the breakdown of social order. Cranford stars Dame Judi Dench (Lady Catherine de Bourgh in Pride and Prejudice 2005), Simon Woods (Charles Bingley Pride and Prejudice 2005) and Julia McKenzie (Miss Marple). Three episodes (Episode one 120 minutes; episode two 60 minutes; episode three 120 minutes)

• Read my recap & review of Cranford

Return to Cranford – January 10 – 17, 2010

Dame Judi Dench returns in the highly anticipated sequel to the Emmy-nominated Cranford miniseries, featuring Imelda Staunton (Charlotte Palmer in Sense and Sensibility 1995), Tom Hiddleston (John Plumptre in Miss Austen Regrets) in the acclaimed story of everyday life in a small Cheshire market town. (Two 90-minute episodes)

• Read my recap & review of Return to Cranford

Emma – January 24 – February 14, 2010

A lavish new four-hour adaptation of one of Jane Austen’s most popular novels stars Romola Garai (Atonement) as the “handsome, clever and rich” but misguided heroine of Highbury Miss Emma Woodhouse. The cast includes Sir Michael Gambon as valetudinarian Mr. Woodhouse and Jonny Lee Miller (Edmund Bertam in Mansfield Park 1999) as her reproachful neighbor Mr. Knightley. Any Janeite worth her syllabub will be glued to the screen for this one. Three episodes (Episode one 120 minutes; episodes two and three 60 minutes)

• Read my recap & review of Emma 2009

Northanger Abbey (Encore Presentation) – February 14, 2010

In Jane Austen’s Gothic parody adapted by renowned screenwriter Andrew Davies, naïve and impressionable Catherine Morland (Felicity Jones) travels to Bath at the end of the eighteenth century in hopes of befalling a romantic adventure like the heroines in the Gothic romances that she is so fascinated with. There she meets the witty and charming Henry Tilney (JJ Feild) who invites her to his family estate of Northanger Abbey,  a creepy medieval house where her vivid imagination and lurid fantasies multiply jeopardizing her budding relationship with her new suitor and his family. One 90-minute episode.

• Read my recap & review of Northanger Abbey 2007

Persuasion (Encore Presentation) – February 21, 2010

In this adaptation of Jane Austen’s last and most poignant novel, heroine Ann Elliot (Sally Hawkins) is a young woman of seven and twenty years destined for spinsterhood after refusing a proposal by a young naval officer Frederick Wentworth (Rupert Penry-Jones) eight years prior. When her spurned suitor reappears as a successful and wealthy Captain looking for a wife, Ann is certain that her opportunity for love and happiness has passed her by. A moving story that reflects upon lost opportunities and renewed hope. One 90-minute episode.

• Read my recap & review of Persuasion 2007

The 39 Steps – February 28, 2010

Filled with romance and humor, this adaptation of the popular John Buchan adventure novel, set on the eve of World War I, stars Rupert Penry-Jones (Captain Wentworth in Persuasion 2007) as Richard Hannay, a mining engineer caught up in a conspiracy following the death of a British spy found in his apartment. One 90-minute episode.

• Read my recap & review of The 39 Steps

Sharpe – March 28 and April 04, 2010

Sean Bean (Lord of the Rings) has made a career out of his multiple appearances as the dashing British army officer Richard Sharpe, a rough diamond who has risen through the ranks of the army on the back of his brave exploits. Set during the Napoleonic Wars, Sharpe is based on the popular novels of Bernard Cornwall. In the first episode, Sharpe’s Challenge, dispatches from India warn that a local maharaja is threatening British interests. Sharpe is sent on what turns out to be his most dangerous mission to date and in Sharpe’s Peril, he is traveling across India in 1818, escorting the beautiful Marie-Angelique Bonnet to meet her fiancé. Little does our hero know that he will inadvertently stumble across a massive opium trafficking ring. Two 120-minute episode.

The Diary of Anne Frank – April 11, 2010

This new, authentic adaptation of Anne Frank’s feisty, poignant and timeless account of her life in a cramped hidden annex during World War II features a remarkable performance by newcomer Ellie Kendrick (An Education), who brings to life the eloquent reflections of a teenage girl trying to live an ordinary life in extraordinary circumstances. One 120-minute episode.

Small Island – April 18 – 25, 2010

Adapted from the award-winning 2004 novel, this miniseries stars Naomie Harris (Pirates of the Caribbean, White Teeth) as Hortense, an ambitious young Jamaican woman thrust into the grit of 1940s post-war London. Two 90-minute episodes.

• Read my recap & review of Small Island

Be sure to check out the Masterpiece website for additional information on casting, story synopsis and programs streaming free online, the day after broadcast.

Enjoy!

© 2009 Laurel Ann Nattress, Austenprose