The last part of P&P95 aired tonight on Masterpiece Whateveritisthisweek, and we have to admit that even your tar-hearted Tilney-lovin’ Editrix’s toes curled a bit at “dearest, loveliest Elizabeth.” And then we’ve been bombarded by overstimulated Alert Janeites letting us know that there’s a very special treat available for auction at eBay for Firthaholics–a Pride and Prejudice Anniversary Edition DVD set signed by His Darcyness himself, AND a personal note from Mr. F. (tee-hee) to the winning bidder! There also are some other auctions featuring Colin’s other work, so do a search and see what’s out there. It all benefits Oxfam, so open your wallets and bid. You know you want him. Thanks to Alert Janeites Karen, Lisa, and another who sent a message through eBay and didn’t leave his or her name.

In other P&P news, the 15,000 members of Australian bookseller Dymocks’ booklover program have chosen Pride and Prejudice as their favorite novel. Several Jane Austen novels ended up in the Top 100: Persuasion at No. 57, Emma at No. 69, and Sense and Sensibility at No. 72. Thanks to Alert Janeites Lisa, Maria, and Lucy for the info!

In other news related to the Complete Jane Austen, Alert Janeite Liz let us know that the Behind the Scenes show from ITV, featuring the making of MP07, NA07, and P07, are available at YouTube: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5. Liz said, “Some questions are answered but don’t expect to find any explanation about Billie Piper’s hair.” Darn!

And lastly, Alert Janeite Marybeth wrote to tell us something interesting about P07:

It seems the PBS broadcast includes two very small scenes - totaling 20 seconds -that did not air on ITV and is not on the Region 1 DVD.

In the American broadcast, during the scenes at Lyme, after Anne and Captain Harville’s conversation about Captain Benwick’s ability to get over his recent loss, the sequence introducing us to Mr Elliot for the first time is edited out and instead the scene switches to a shot of crashing waves and then a shot of Anne standing on the Cobb looking out at the sea and then into the camera. (Neither of those shots were a part of the original British broadcast.) The PBS version then picks up with the British version showing Anne in front of the mirror at the inn.

Like I said, the whole thing takes about 20 seconds and replaces a sequence that lasts for 1 minute and 20 seconds. My guess is it was done to help match up the musical cues. But still, I just find it rather ironic that after all the scenes that were taken out, they decided to add something in for us.

The same thing happened with the second Hornblower series–the American cut was different from the British cut, and then the DVDs had less stuff than was shown on the television broadcast, and other stuff that wasn’t shown on the television broadcast. It was very weird.

Marybeth also sent a link to Ask Andrew Davies a question via PBS. Hope he has a bouncer handy.

Several articles on Jane Austen popped up in the past week or so, and we’re just getting around to posting them. (Yes, suffering from blogging malaise again. Might be the weather.)

The New York Times had an article on Literary Darwinists that invoked Pride and Prejudice right up front. We didn’t get much past the first page; if someone would be so kind as to tell us what it’s about, we would be most grateful.

Should unpublished work be published after an author’s death? A good question, but why drag Northanger Abbey into it? The author of the piece admits that Jane Austen sought publication of the novel during her lifetime, and had she lived long enough, probably would have tried again; Sanditon or The Watsons might be a better choice to question; though we’re glad to have had the opportunity to read both of these. (Though in a way, reading Sanditon is a tease, because you just know that would have been an incredible novel had it been finished.) Besides, the money from the posthumous publication of Persuasion and Northanger Abbey went to Cassandra Austen (mostly) and Henry Austen, both of whom were in need of the cash, and we sincerely doubt that Jane would have begrudged either of them the money. Now, some of the recent films, on the other hand…

This is a fairly interesting article on Jane Austen and America. The author notes military service of various Austen relatives in British-American conflicts (the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812).

Alert Janeites Kirsten and Lisa sent us a link to a cute review of Book-It Repertory’s production of Persuasion, in letter form.

My dear Jane:

You have left this Earth, good friend, long ago, in 1817. But I must write to let you know that the novels you left us are thriving!

Jane, your elegantly perceptive stories are again the talk of the neighborhood, and of tout America. Yes, post-hip-hop America loves it some Austen!

Everywhere, she is.

Though, yes, this is a story about people who do take a great many walks. (Pity they don’t have many dress-up balls — which I know you adored, Jane, and we have no such events to get vicarious thrills from.)

Yes, but she liked taking walks, too!

We hope to have a report from the West Coast Bureau about this play soon!