Acclaimed Andrew Davies adaptation available on PBS Masterpiece Prime Video
JANE AUSTEN FANS, rejoice. Acclaimed writer Andrew Davies has given Austen fans what they have been waiting over a century for – the completion of the writer’s last piece of work, left unfinished at her death in 1817. Now Davies (of “Pride and Prejudice” and “Les Misérables” fame) has created a new drama for us all to enjoy. The debut episode will begin streaming on the Masterpiece Prime Video Channel on January 12, with new episodes debuting Sunday of each following week. On February 23, fans can binge-watch the program in its entirety.
The show, which stars Rose Williams, Theo James and Anne Reid, follows the progress of the sensible and naïve Charlotte, who arrives at Sanditon and quickly observes hypochondria, avarice and attempted seduction run amok. Lady Denham is playing matchmaker for her destitute nephew, Sir Edward, who is determined to seduce Lady Denham’s ward, Clara and become the primary heir to his aunt’s estate. The arrival of wealthy, mixed-race heiress Miss Lambe, under the guardianship of Tom’s upright brother Sidney, due to a promise he made to Lambe’s father on his deathbed, adds an interesting complication. Eligible men naturally find Miss Lambe fascinating, while Charlotte is intrigued by Sidney.
With many promising loose ends and romantic possibilities, how will the young people pair off? Who will Lady Denham designate as her heir? Will Tom’s tourist spa finally catch on with the public? Where will that lead? Andrew Davies imaginatively enters this world of Georgian-era suitors, hustlers, and health cranks and boldly tells us what happens next.
Remarkably, even as Jane Austen was succumbing to the ravages of her fatal illness, she chose to lampoon the contemporary fad for tonics, sea water cures, and other medical remedies. Undiagnosed at the time, her malady was probably Addison’s disease, which today is easily treatable. She might have had many years of writing ahead of her, but Jane Austen died at age 41, on July 18, 1817.
