cece, Julia Sawalha is appearing in Lark Rise to Candleford which is BBC TV's main offering for Sunday night viewing. She plays Dorcas the Post Mistress.
I'm sure it will be on a screen near you soon.
Please note it bears almost no relationship to the book of the same name and has too many 'modern' sensibilities but it is pretty to look at and the costumes seem well-done . . . if too clean in a time before universal hot water was the norm.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lark Rise to Candleford; scroll down

Vee-how lovely-thank you. I hope that is one of our TV imports! Maybe on BBC America...where I am addicted to Coupling. Too funny.

Our local National Public Radio station has a "pick of the month" in conjunction with the local Borders book stores...one month a book, one a music cd, and one a video. This month it is the Pride and Prejudice version now playing on their sister public TV station...they keep running the part where Darcy has just forced himself to propose and Elizabeth royally tells him off. I'm learning it off by heart just hearing it 20 times a day!

I am reliably informed that, if you are a woman living in Britain and you go to the doctor complaining of depression, before they put you on drugs the doctor will suggest renting P&P. Viewing Colin Firth apparently does wonders, as good as Xanax.

Brenda

Hm, not a bad idea- he is pretty good looking................

Smart doctors.

Up next on our PBS station-Sense and Sensibility...looks fairly newish. Then Emma, which, by the way, was Nero Wolfe's ideal novel. One has to imagine that he was speaking for his author, Rex Stout.

Hmm. I thought it was going to be Emma next week. Either way - S&S or Emma - I will be happy as I have never read them.

I thoroughly enjoying this series. Did anyone see the shows they previewed post the program last night? "My Boy Jack" among them about Kipling. Looks good for the next few months.

Lemonhead, I thought the previews for My Boy Jack looked good too. Did you notice Jack was played by the boy who does Harry Potter (can't think of his real name--Daniel something?).

Kelly

Liz, check out My Boy Jack thread below.

Here is a link that might be useful: My Boy Jack

A new S & S?-I love the Emma Thompson version and thought it was a great cast. IMHO the 'new' versions of the Austen works have been pretty bad!

Pat

It is not the Thompson version-I agree-those are big shoes to fill.
The actress in Emma doesn't fit my mental picture, but she's closer than Gwenyth Paltrow-let's hope the version is as well.
While watching the preview last night, I decided thatMy Boy Jack looked like it will be unbearably sad-then I followed the link above and decided I may not be able to watch it at all. I had never read the poem, just knew what had happened to so many of the young men in WW I.

I'm looking forward to the new Sense and Sensibility. I need to go back and watch Room with a View again too. The version they were previewing last night wasn't appealing to me.

I didn't watch the P&P airings, since I can watch it at any time. However I do plan to see the new S&S. I just ordered the DVD of Northanger Abbey. I'll buy any reasonable Jane Austen movie, but some are too dreadful to endure. Those I skip. The new Mansfield Park of the messy hair and the new Persuasion of the gasping fish kisses I will let pass by. What a pity the only decent version of Mansfield Park now looks so dated! It is not really that old (1986) but we expect such higher quality productions from television and movies these days. I still find it watchable, but would have enjoyed an updated version that was still true to the book.

Rosefolly

I really enjoyed watching P&P spread out over the past 3(?) weeks. Not only did it give me something to look forward to on a Sunday night, but it also gave the story more of a chance to develop over time. Perfect.

Vee -

I checked out that thread about Jack - wow. It looks very very sad but should be good. Will have to just watch it with some tissues close at hand.

Thanks for the link.

I worry about EMMA --- can they really be cramming a novel of such length and complexity into just one show? It'll be another MANSFIELD PARK, a wan ghost of itself.

Brenda

We're having another PBS pledge week so will not have an Austen movie this week. Bah, humbug! I had not seen P&P with Colin Firth before and really loved it.

There was a PBS special last night called Life Lessons from Onslow that had him discussing relationships with friends and family and showing short skits from Keeping up Appearances as contra-indicative.

Brenda, I loved Emma with Gweneth so I think it's possible.

Gweneth's Emma was not as true to the book as I expected, like the Mansfield Park. It was pretty and amusing in and of itself.

Our PBS station is having its pledge week as well, so no Jane Austen for me. However, to make up for it, a friend and I rented "Emma" with Gwyneth Paltrow in it - loved it.

Is the Jane Austen programming back to normal next week, do you think?

I have low expectations of authenticity in all movies. Otherwise I would go through lfe comstantly annoyed.
It doesn't deter my enjoyment though. I do understand the Jane Austen fans want it, however.

We had a repeat of Persuasion (the Masterpiece version)....ick. I was looking forward to an evening of Jane Austen, but turned the tv off and read instead. I guess I'll have to wait until next week to get my "fix" in!

Happy moment...
working the circ desk at the library yesterday...young girl comes in-a bit disheveled, wearing real spurs on her boots, so she jingled, which made the ladies at the circ desk giggle-but a lovely smile and very friendly. Asked if I could help her find a biography. did she have anyone particular in mind? Yes, Jane Austen! Was I excited, or what? We had one on the shelf, so she was very excited as well. I told her I was a fan, and asked her if she had seen any of the PBS dramas-she had seen and read P&P. Asked me to recommend another one of her books. I gave her a quick overview of the others and she chose Mansfield Park and jingled home happily. Felt a bit like I was passing the torch!

I haven't been able to follow the Masterpiece Theater programs, but maybe they will repeat them or put them out on DVD soon.

Several years ago I saw two productions of Emma, one with Kate Beckinsale and the one with Paltrow. I actually liked the Beckinsale version better -- she seemed more natural to me than Paltrow.

Like practically everyone else, I love the Pride and Prejudice with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth. I'm a bit confused -- is Masterpiece Theater showing a new version or only reshowing the miniseries?

They replayed the Ehle-Firth miniseries.

Although I was worried about EMMA they do seem to have got it right! Although I do not find the actor who played Mr. Knightley attractive.

Brenda

I saw this version before and although it was fairly accurate to the book - I agree Mr Knightley was not handsome enough to capture Emma!

Pat

I'd been wanting to see this version for a long time and I have mixed feelings about it now. I could not sense any sexual tension however repressed from Emma for Mr. Knightly. No foreshadowing that he is the one. That was a big drawback for me. Still, I liked the harvest dance and the neat tying up of various relationships and the slower pace than the Gweneth version. Mr. Knightly was ok in looks for me but definitely not a Jeremy Northam.

I remember having the same complaint about the BBC production of COLD COMFORT FARM -- the actor playing Kester Woodseaves was just not cute enough.

Brenda

Part 1 of Sense and Sensibility last night. I am pleased with the casting of the two older sisters, Elinor and Marianne-I think Mrs. Dashwood in the film is more sensible that Mrs. Dashwood in the book. Love the cousins Sir John and his mother-in-law...she is Mrs. Bennett after having married them all off!

It was very close to the Emma Thompson version-which I love-with a few minor variations.
However Colonel Brandon was blah-Alan Rickman played Brandon beautifully in the Thompson movie.

I will have to see in the next episode if he can summon up some feelings or even passion to convince me that Marianne would accept him.

Pat

Alan Rickman-yum. I will have to see if I can find that version. I am, however, rereading it now-it's a rainy cold ugly day and tea, leftover Easter chocs and Austen is just what the doctor ordered. (Dr. Mom, that would be, self-prescribing.)It has been years since I read it.

cece-I was in Target a few days ago & they had the Emma Thompson DVD of S & S for only $5.00- a gem!

Pat

Cece, you have Easter chocs a week later? You must have very strong willpower, or else you just found out where the kids hid them last Sunday.

I haven't seen a Sense and Sensibility movie before, and it has been a really long time since I read any Austen, so I am enjoying the MT shows a lot--this one the most except for P&P.

This S&S is very good--but only if you had not seen the Emma Thompson version which is even better. I wonder why they made yet another version so soon after that excellent interpretation. But it still surpasses anything else on television most nights.

I thought this version of Sense and Sensibility was decent. It lacked the excellence of the Emma Thompson/ Kate Winslet version, but it is enjoyable.

Speaking of which, my sister Rouan and I were involved in a family discussion about various Austen movies, and which actors we liked in which roles. I suggested that certain actors have come to 'own' certain roles in my mind. For example, to me Kate Winslet is Marianne Dashwood. No other actor is likely to change my image of that character. Amanda Root will always be my Anne Elliott. Colin Firth is Mr Darcy, not only for me but for many people, I suspect. I find Alan Rickman perfect as Colonel Brandon. On the other hand, Hugh Grant is always Hugh Grant, charming, diffident, even likable, but inevitably Hugh Grant. I like Jennifer Ehle better than any other Elizabeth Bennet, but she doesn't own the role. I can imagine another valid interpretation. It was Angela Pleasance who first made Lady Bertram real for me. I could never picture this character clearly until I saw her performance in the old 1983 version. And for other roles -- Mr. Collins, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Sir Walter Elliott, Lady Russell -- a number of differing interpretations have all worked extremely well for me, but none have defined these roles.

Rosefolly

Don't be silly-the day after Easter, the leftovers are 1/2 price-DS and I ran amok with dark chocolate eggs of various fillings, that we now self-ration to one of each a day! He, of course, then goes to the gym and practice....I sit down and read another book.

The library has the Thompson/Winslet version...and I volunteer this afternoon-kismet!

Sherwood, I was at Target today and remembered your post. I found the $5 DVD of S&S and snapped it right up. I can't wait to see it again. Thank you for mentioning the bargain price, I would never have even been in the DVD section otherwise.

Sheri-I am glad you got it!

Target usually has lower prices on DVD's-well the new ones that come out each Tuesday. They sell for approx $5.00 less than other places that first week. After that they go up in price to about the same as other places.

I always ck the Target ad in the Sunday paper to see what DVD's they are offering-different ones each week. A very good way to build up the DVD library.

Pat

Don't forget swap dvd too. I've getting some great movies that way. Pride and Prejudice -the Keira one- came last week.
I have just checked, though, on all the Jane Austen movies and there are quite a few members wishing for most of them.But sometimes those lists move quickly.

I buy a lot of DVDs at Target. They and Amazon are my chief sources. Target seems to have the best prices on mainstream movies, and Amazon has quite decent prices on movies that Target doesn't pick up, Target-ish prices, if you like.

When my youngest daughter still lived at home, we went to Target each Tuesday to check out the newly released DVDs. I miss that little ceremony.

Rosefolly

Several thousand miles from Jane Austen, but the BBC showed The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency over the Easter holidays with US singer Jill Scott as Precious Ramotswe. It was co-written and directed by Anthony Minghella; the last thing he did before his untimely death a couple of weeks ago.
The critics complained that it was bland and didn't show Botswana warts and all, but I felt it kept to the spirit of the book and was made entirely on location in that country.

Here is a link that might be useful: No 1 Ladies Detective Agency

I don't even want to see any other version of S & S, having so adored the Emma Thompson/Alan Rickman film. (Do I have a bias or what?)

Thanks so much re the tip on Target. I never had thought to look there but will be going close to it next Tuesday, so will check it out.

DD pilfered my P&P dvd when she was home last summer, and she and her English-major buddies at grad school have watched it several times...last night I went to Amazon and lo and behold, jumping right off the screen at me were P&P and the Emma/Kate version of S&S bundled for the "free shipping qualifying" price of $29.99....so I ordered them and emailed DD that she could keep the P&P so all is wonderful....as long as Amazon gets its skates on. No Targets nearer than 20 miles, and at the price of petrol these days, free shipping is the way to go!

I am about halfway through the sequel to all the novels (well, not Lady Susan) written in 1913 that was mentioned elsewhere...Old Friends, New Fancies and, other than having to look at the character-book cheat sheet in the front now and again, I am enjoying it. I always want to know "what happened to them next! and this is fun.

Somehow I missed seeing the second half of S&S on Masterpiece Theatre. Today I saw the DVD for sale in Target and bought it. No bargain at $29.99, but it includes Miss Austen Regrets so I decided to buy it. One rarely sees this kind of movie in Target. They usually go for mass appeal movies, so I decided to vote with my dollars and encourage them.

Rosefolly

What a nice person you are, Rosefolly! I hope you enjoy the movies! But don't forget Amazon either...and they have free shipping.

Bumblebeez, thank you for those kind words. Amazon certainly sees a lot of my business!

I just wanted to say that I found S&S to be the most successful of the newly made Austen versions. There were two or three scenes that I would have preferred to be omitted, but on the whole, it was quite enjoyable. It did not surpass the Emma Thompson version, but I thought both were enjoyable. My rating: Pretty Good

The next best was Northanger Abbey. My rating: Not Bad.

The last two, Persuasion and Mansfield Park, were a waste of viewing time. My rating: Simply Dreadful.

Rosefolly

Miss Austen Regrets was on TV last night. As always the settings of country mansions, parkland etc were beautiful and Olivia Williams as JA was good but . . . I found it difficult to follow the 'plot', such as it was, and was confused by all the young men Jane flirted with. At 40 years old she was well over middle age by the standards of those days and my, didn't she hit the bottle.
I understand that her sister burnt most of her letters and I'm sure Jane would have never started so many sentences with "Oh my God!" Very modern.

btw the actress, Phyllida Law, who played JA's mother is 'in real life' the mother of Emma Thompsom.

pulling up!