Miss Austen - BBC1

[witchycat2]

All episodes are now up on iplayer. It airs weekly on Sunday at 9:05pm from tonight.

I love a period drama. I've watched the first episode on iplayer and liking it so far.

Synopsis below from BBC:

Miss Austen takes a literary mystery – Cassandra Austen notoriously burning her famous sister Jane’s letters – and reimagines it as a fascinating, witty and heart-breaking story of sisterly love.
The drama begins in 1830, many years after Jane has died. Cassandra (Keeley Hawes) rushes to visit Isabella (Rose Leslie), the niece of her long-dead fiancé, who is about to lose her home following her father’s death. Cassandra is ostensibly there to help Isabella, but her real motive is to find a hidden bundle of private letters which, in the wrong hands, she fears could destroy Jane’s reputation. On discovering them, Cassandra is overwhelmed as she is transported back to her youth. In flashbacks, we meet Young Cassy (Synnøve Karlsen) and Jane (Patsy Ferran) as they navigate the romantic infatuations, family feuds and dashed hopes which shaped their lives, and laid the foundations for Jane’s unforgettable stories. Cassandra’s re-evaluation of her past eventually leads her to find a way to guide Isabella towards the path of true happiness.

I regret nothing www.theguardian.com/stage/2023/mar/20/patsy-ferran-interview-a-streetcar-named-desire

I don't see how commenting on a resemblance to another person is "mean and unnecessary". It's a simple fact.

Saying that a female actor looks like Mr Bean is quite mean. You didn't mean it as a compliment.

God this place is so annoying these days

This article says that the actress is Spanish and not related to Rowan Atkinson, Many others have also speculated they were related though.

abtc.ng/is-patsy-ferran-related-to-mr-bean/

Very much here for Mr Lidderdale....

Well , I just binged. No spoilers, but I have got a big smile on my face and a little moisture in my eye.

Oh that's very good news! I love the book too

I love Keeley Hawes and I think she's rather wonderful in this. Patsy Ferran who's playing young Jane looks how I imagine Jane looked going on portraits that are said to be of her and the picture they painted in my head. She has sparkly eyes and a beautifully mobile face that sums up Jane for me. I really enjoyed it and agree with someone else about Cassandra's dress. I want one!

I'm currently re-reading a book that I read a few years ago and loved. It could have been written just for me because it's Jane Austen - Yay! - and Time Travel - double yay! It's about a couple of people from some time in the future who are sent back in time to 1815 to find the manuscript of a lost novel of hers, The Watsons, to bring it back so that it can be published. For reasons. I think the reasons come up later in the book and I've forgotten what they are. The future they're living in is a bit unpleasant because climate change and all that. One of the people who've gone back, a woman, is a doctor but they have been told they can't do anything that will change the timeline. Small things can't be avoided but they can't cure Jane and have her live longer and so there are struggles with what is the right thing to do and blah, blah, blah. It's a cracking read.

Someone also recommended Little Dorritt further up the thread. I watched that last year and really enjoyed it. If you haven't seen the Gillian Anderson etc Bleak House that's utterly brilliant and a must watch. There are definitely others worth watching but I can't think of them off the top of my head.

Yes, Patsy Ferran is great. I liked her in Mothering Sunday and Life After Life too.

Like in that really good but heart breaking film The Quiet Girl. 😭

Oh that reminds me I've got that on my planner and forgot to watch it @PinkCandles

It's a really good film @JaneJeffer

The actress playing Jane Austen has a resemblance to the portrait done by Cassandra and if you look at the portraits of their brothers (most on Wikipedia) this portrait resonates with how they all looked. The large eyes and prominent noses appear to be a family feature. Their mother was very proud of her large nose (shown in her silhouette) and Cassandra's silhouette also has quite a long nose (although different shape to her mother's).

I've read all of the biographies of Jane and I think Claire Tomalin's is the best one.

I enjoyed the programmes but the fictional Mr Hobday's inclusion irritated me! It was also grating to see Sidmouth beach portrayed as sandy with dunes when in fact it's all pebbles!

@FagsMagsandBags David Copperfields on iplayer as well with a brilliant cast including a very young Daniel Radcliffe and Nicholas Lyndhurst is brilliantly creepy as Uriah Heap.

There's also Great Expectations but I didn't like that adaptation as they changed Dickens ending 🤦‍♀️🙄

I don’t know why they introduce fictional characters. The real story is interesting enough!

Is this The Jane Austen Project? Sounds ace. Weirdly doesn't seem to be available on Kindle.

Oh that sucks! I had a look and what they have to sell is expensive too. I had a look on Abe Books and you can get it there for under a fiver. I don't know what the postage is but they have a number of copies on sale for different under a fiver prices.

@FagsMagsandBags I found it on World of Books for £3.50 (may have bought a couple of other things at the same time )

I've binged the whole series and I really enjoyed it. It did make me ponder though on whether most of the denizens of MN would've gone NC with Mary! She was just so awful, apart from in her final scene with Jane, that I'm pretty sure I would've. Isabella's sister (Mary Jane?) was extremely odd too and I was glad things worked out as they did for Isabella (trying not to add any spoilers!).

I thought the whole concept was a really interesting fictionalised scenario, so well done to writer Gill Hornby for being so creative and imaginative.

We watched the first episode tonight and really enjoyed it.

After finishing it last night I read review in The Telegraph "there is no emotional depth". I think the reviewer watched different show. There were buckets if emotions. I loved it and I am not considering myself JA's devoted fan.

I agree with you! I've had all the feels watching it!

For those of you who might not know this, it was allegedly Jane who almost had a romance in Sidmouth not Cassandra. According to various family members, Cassandra told them many years later that they had met a man (possibly clergyman) in 1801 at Sidmouth who appeared to become attached to Jane. He had to leave but said he'd return. Subsequently, they received word from his brother that he had died. Cassandra spoke warmly of this man and indicated that she thought him worthy of her sister and that Jane would have accepted if he had proposed in future.

Every time I watch Miss Austin Regrets, I cry. Such a lovely film x.