"Sense & Sensibility" (2008) TV mini-series

User Rating:

8.2/10   

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

30 March 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot Keywords:

Sister Sister Relationship | Romanticism | Country Life | Class Differences | Loss Of Father

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Hattie Morahan	...	Elinor Dashwood (3 episodes, 2008)
Charity Wakefield	...	Marianne Dashwood (3 episodes, 2008)
Janet McTeer	...	Mrs. Dashwood (3 episodes, 2008)
David Morrissey	...	Colonel Brandon (3 episodes, 2008)
Dan Stevens	...	Edward Ferrars (3 episodes, 2008)
Dominic Cooper	...	Willoughby (3 episodes, 2008)
Lucy Boynton	...	Margaret Dashwood (3 episodes, 2008)
Linda Bassett	...	Mrs. Jennings (3 episodes, 2008)
Mark Williams	...	Sir John Middleton (3 episodes, 2008)
Claire Skinner	...	Fanny Dashwood (3 episodes, 2008)
Rosanna Lavelle	...	Lady Middleton (3 episodes, 2008)
Mark Gatiss	...	John Dashwood (2 episodes, 2008)
Caroline Hayes	...	Eliza (2 episodes, 2008)
David S. Glover	...	Foot (2 episodes, 2008)
Daisy Haggard	...	Miss Steele (2 episodes, 2008)
Anna Madeley	...	Lucy Steele (2 episodes, 2008)
Leo Bill	...	Robert Ferrars (2 episodes, 2008)
Morgan Overton	...	Little Henry (2 episodes, 2008)
Tim McMullan	...	Mr. Palmer (2 episodes, 2008)
Tabitha Wady	...	Charlotte Palmer (2 episodes, 2008)
Roy Holder	...	Thomas (2 episodes, 2008)
David Glover	...	Foot (2 episodes, 2008)

Runtime:

Russia:180 min (2 parts) | 180 min (3 parts)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Australia:PG | Netherlands:AL

Filming Locations:

Berkshire, England, UK

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

The yellow and brown striped waistcoat Mark Williams (Sir John Middleton) wears when the Dashwoods arrive at Barton Cottage is the same costume Nicholas Jones (the Merdles' butler) wears in "Little Dorrit" (2008).

Goofs:

Continuity: The scene: Elinor finds Edward chopping wood in the rain. We see Elinor approaching with her arms holding the shawl over her head and shoulders. When the shot shifts and we see Elinor from her back, the shawl is covering only her head, with arms over the shawl.

Movie Connections:

Version of "Sense and Sensibility" (1981)

Soundtrack:

Hey, Ho, the Wind and the Rain

Good looking, well -acted but over-compressed

Perhaps we are getting used to Andrew Davies's adaptations but I think he was below par here, perhaps because of the short duration. This version had what are known as "high production values", ie it looked good and was well-acted. However Jane Austen's dialogue and characterisation really lost out when compressed into three episodes. Andrew Davies would rightly say that 21st century television is a very different medium from an early nineteenth century novel. In its own terms, therefore, as a TV drama it was quite good, as bonnet-fests go. However if you had never read the book, you would have probably thought that much fuss has been made over a fairly uninteresting story. I guess you could compress Sense & Sensibility still further until people would believe that Jane Austen was first published by Mills and Boon.

On the plus side at least they got the characters' ages right. In the 1995 version Emma Thompson was 36 but playing a nineteen year old. However good she was, she was far too old for the part.