S&S3 will be shown in the U.S. on Masterpiece Theatre
An article about the PBS program Masterpiece Theatre included the tidbit that the 2007 season will include the new production of SENSE AND SENSIBILITY, to be adapted by Andrew Davies. There also is some news for our friends at the various Brontë blogs.
Future episodes of “Masterpiece Theater” include an adaptation of the life of Casanova starring Peter O’Toole and David Tennant and, in 2007, a new adaptation of Charlotte Bronte’s “Jane Eyre” and a co-production with BBC of Jane Austen’s “Sense and Sensibility.”
In reference to the main part of the article, we are amused, bemused, and slightly apprehensive at the idea of “Oprah Winfrey Presents Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility.”
For our U.K. readers, to the best of our knowledge, the new series will be shown on the BBC sometime in 2007.
ETA: Brontëana posted in comments about this yesterday, but it got caught in the spam filter…she has more at her blog, including a link to an article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Brontëblog has also posted about the new production of JANE EYRE, included in the same press release.
January 17th, 2006 at 11:17 am
I’m so glad Masterpiece Theater is going to be airing S&S! I was afraid that none of the upcoming adaptions would be airing in the US.
Now we just have to get them to air the other ones too (MP, NA and Per-right?)
I have hopes that Masterpiece Theater will maybe pick up MP and NA, but I have my doubts about Persuasion since they just aired a version about 10 years ago-but you can always hope!
Thanks for the info!
Maria B.
January 17th, 2006 at 1:15 pm
I am worried about an “Oprah-ization” too. This would mean (IMO)playing up the Marianne character and making it seem that she’s noble rather than immature.
January 17th, 2006 at 3:32 pm
I was thinking more along the lines of “once Oprah gets her hands on MT, we’ll never see Jane Austen again.” We’ll get a lot of depressing Hallmark Hall of Fame type things, and maybe the film version of James Frey’s
memoirnovelbook.January 17th, 2006 at 5:26 pm
I’m so glad it’s going to be on Masterpiece Theater! I hope the other adaptions will be too! Mags, where did you see that article? I can’t seem to find it.
January 17th, 2006 at 11:11 pm
Mags I could not agree with you more. You truly are correct, if Oprah got her hands on MT it would become “Oprah’s Book Club Theater.”
But I am very Happy about the upcoming production of S&S it is one of my favorite books, and i would love a longer adaptation than the Ang Lee version to add to my collection.
I figure if they can do Bleak House, they can do anything.
~R
January 17th, 2006 at 11:30 pm
D’oh! I forgot the link to the article. It’s in there now. Sorry!
January 18th, 2006 at 12:53 am
Look on the bright side - we US people get to see Casanova!!! With David Tennant!!! My friend showed me a copy of this and it was absolutely brilliant - my rationale is that if they can give us Bleak House and Casanova, then I’m not worried about S&S.
January 18th, 2006 at 2:45 pm
I am confused! I thought that ITV was the one producing and showing Davis’S&S and then Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. Can someone help me here?
January 18th, 2006 at 3:28 pm
Ali, the BBC is producing S&S with a script by Andrew Davies, but ITV, in a separate effort, is producing new adaptations of NA, Persuasion and MP. The NA film will be from a script by Andrew Davies, but MP will be written by Maggie Wadey and P presumably will be written by someone else entirely.
Also I suspect that S&S will be a four-hour miniseries (like NORTH AND SOUTH) and the other three will be two hour TV films.