This three part adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel features Hattie Morahan as Elinor Dashwood, and Charity Wakefield as Marianne Dashwood. The two sisters, together with their younger sister Margaret and their mother, are forced to move out of their family home, after their father dies with his whole estate being bequeathed to his son from his first marriage. Settling into their new life, both the rational and calm Elinor and the more impetuous Marianne fall in love with two very different men, but find that the happiness they hope for is not to be so easily found.
I loved this adaptation, and thought that in particular Morahan and Wakefield were superb as the two sisters, with the characters being very faithful to how they were portrayed in the book. Dan Stevens (who was to subsequently find fame as Matthew Crawley in Downton Abbey) played Edward Ferrars, the young man who immediately catches Elinor’s eye, and he played the role wonderfully – a pleasant surprise for me, as I never enjoyed his Downton character. Dominic Cooper was suitably seductive and untrustworthy as Willoughby, the young man who charms Marianne over, only to let her down, and David Morrissey was well cast as the honourable Colonel Brandon (with Alan Rickman’s excellent performance from the 1995 film adaptation in my head, I was again pleasantly surprised at how much Morrissey made the role his own).
There were some very moving moments, just as there should be, but there was also a lot of humour in this production. While I do not really want to make comparisons, I have to say that I preferred this to the 1995 film, as I think the casting was generally much better, and a three hour series gives better opportunity for telling the story than a two hour film. (However, fans of the novel would be advised to watch both adaptations.) I definitely recommend this show.
Year of release: 2008
Director: John Alexander
Producers: Rebecca Eaton, Jessica Pope, Vanessa De Sousa, Anne Pivcevic
Writers: Jane Austen (novel), Andrew Davies
Main cast: Hattie Morahan, Charity Wakefield, David Morrissey, Janet McTeer, Dan Stevens, Dominic Cooper, Lucy Boynton, Mark Williams, Linda Bassett, Claire Skinner
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Click here for my review of the 1995 film adaptation.
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