As of yesterday, we are now officially halfway through the second season of Sanditon! (Well, 4 episodes through, if you have the PBS streaming app.) And while I’ve loved Sanditon from the beginning, it has really made me appreciate its unique position. Yes, it is in the Austen-verse but aside from the first episode, it is not written by Austen. Some people dislike that, but I am not one of them. I love projects that are set within Austen’s created Regency world but are separate from her own works. (Not that I don’t enjoy a solid re-make.) So, in honour of Sanditon, I’ve got my favourite Austen-ish adaptations!
Note: three of four of these are based on books, but I am only discussing the shows/films here, not the books.
Sanditon (2019-Present)
Sanditon is based on the 11 chapters of a novel of the same name that Austen wrote shortly before her death. Charlotte Heywood moves to the growing coastal town of Sanditon to live with the Parker family. Tom Parker, the patriarch of the family, is the man behind Sanditon, and keeps everyone on their toes. Andrew Davies wrote the rest of the first season, while Justin Young has written the second and third seasons.
Why You Should Watch This…
I count Sanditon in the Austen-ish category because we have so little of the novel completed. If you are looking at the show, her material covered the majority of the first (of eight episodes), with the rest being written by Davies.
I know that British fans were not in favour of Sanditon when it aired at the end of 2019, but I was absolutely in the North American fans who watched it at the beginning of 2020 who adored it. It has an excitement and fun, with a bit of a different setting for an Austen-based story. And due to a persistent online fan campaign, known as the Sanditon Sisterhood, there are an additional two seasons! If you don’t know, both season two and season three were already filmed and we are in the middle of season two airing (as of publishing date). Many Austen-ish adaptations are films or mini-series, and Sanditon should have twenty episodes total when finished! There is no air date for season three yet, but I will update when we hear.
(If you are around on Sunday evenings, I would recommend joining me in live-tweeting the episodes- the Masterpiece Twitter is always a fun and welcoming place!)
Austenland (2013)
Based on the 2013 novel of the same name, Austenland follows Jane Hayes, a single 30-something who adores Austen and goes to an Austen-themed resort in England to spend a week living like Austen would. Or a very nice and fun version of how Austen would have lived…
Why You Should Watch This…
I have to say, this film is a lot of fun and pure escape for the Austen fan! I found the movie to be lighter in tone than the novel (though the book is still worth reading!), and Keri Russell is the perfect Jane Hayes. Yes, critics were not a fan of the movie, but I think that a lot of critics (who oftentimes tend to be male) dismiss the romance genre as silly and shallow. And in the age of mid-Bridgerton and mid-Sanditon, I think that people are in the perfect position to discover and enjoy this movie! (And as a bonus for Austen fans: JJ Feild who played Henry Tilney in Andrew Davies’ 2007 adaptation of Northanger Abbey is also in Austenland…)
Death Comes to Pemberley (2013)
Death Comes to Pemberley is based on PD James’ novel from 2011 that mashed up her style of crime writing with Austen’s characters and settings. The show and the book are set a few years after Darcy and Elizabeth have married, and Wickham, now Elizabeth’s brother-in-law, gets wrapped up in a murder.
Why You Should Watch This…
While I do not believe that you should have to justify your reading or watching to anyone, it sometimes helps to have a more grounded Austen tale if you want other people to watch with you. PD James is one of the most well-known crime authors of the late-twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and a lot of people will watch this three-part series simply because she was involved.
If you like murder mysteries, this is one of the most entertaining I’ve watched in the last decade. And it features a litany of very popular actors now in a much earlier point in their career: Jenna Coleman, Matthew Goode, James Norton, and Eleanor Tomlinson are all in it! Given that it is only three parts, you have a decent amount of watching but you should be able to finish it in a day.
Lost in Austen (2008)
This is the only adaptation on the list not based on a book, if you want something completely on its own! Amanda lives in London in the twenty-first century, but somehow enters into Pride and Prejudice through a portal in her bathroom. While she is living in the Regency period, Elizabeth is living Amanda’s life in London. Chaos ensues because she knows what is supposed to happen in the novel, but things keep going awry.
Why You Should Watch This…
This is another adaptation that is highly entertaining, and I can’t put enough emphasis on that. While Austenland is probably a possibility, or will be at some point (I’m assuming someone will make an immersive Austen experience), Lost in Austen would be a lot of (high stress) fun that we can never actually experience.
I also love the slightly off-kilter Pride and Prejudice taking place on screen. It is such a beloved novel that gets adaptated again and again, there is something about seeing it go “wrong” that makes you keep watching.
If you have a picky watcher with you, Lost in Austen was actually well-received by critics and Austen-fans alike. And that is no easy feat in the Austen world.
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Want the best modern Jane Austen adaptations?
What are your favourite Austen-ish adaptations?
Cheers,
The Historian
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