Masterpiece, Sanditon, Season 1

Sunday, March 20, from noon to 8 PM

Catch up on the romance and intrigue of Season 1 before the Season 2 premiere!

Jane Austen was chronically ill with a mysterious disease in early 1817 when she turned her thoughts to a happier subject. She started work on a witty and delightful novel set in a seaside town. She never finished it. Noted screenwriter Andrew Davies picks up Austen’s plot and takes it in a glorious and satisfying direction. 

MASTERPIECE’s bold and lavish adaptation of Jane Austen’s final work stars Rose Williams as Austen’s lively but levelheaded heroine, Charlotte Heywood; Theo James as the humorous, charming (and slightly wild!) Sidney Parker; Anne Reid as the forthright grande dame of Sanditon, Lady Denham; Kris Marshall as Sanditon’s compulsively enterprising promoter, Tom Parker; and Crystal Clarke as the mysterious West Indian heiress, Miss Lambe.

The storyline, as Austen left it in 11 beautifully crafted chapters, is as follows: Tom Parker is obsessed with turning the sleepy seaside village of Sanditon into a fashionable health resort, and he enlists the backing of local bigwig Lady Denham.

Through a mishap, Tom makes the acquaintance of the Heywoods and invites their eldest daughter for an extended stay at Sanditon. There, the sensible Charlotte observes hypochondria, avarice and attempted seduction run amok.