Lost in Austen

I didn't make the mistake of reading reviews before watching this so I went in with no expectations. Before going any further I have to admit to having watched the 90's version of P & P and read the novel dozens of times. A true Austen freak, I am.

Like other reviewers, at first I was offended by the crudeness and lack of tact displayed by the Amanda character when she entered the world of the novel. How dare any true Austen fan behave in a way that displays such ignorance of Lizzie's world? She should have fit right in. But then I realized the choice to NOT make Amanda a perfect Eliza Bennet clone made for a much more dynamic story and more amusing moments between the characters. Instead of giving her the perfect accent, the perfect deportment, and the perfect manners right from the start, it took her some time to fit in. Her clumsy manner and bluntness caused her to make some mistakes that would seem impossible for a true Austen fan but enabled unexpected twists and turns in the story. And its these twists and the what ifs that I loved. I loved that the wrong people fell in love. I love that everything she thought was supposed to happen didn't happen. If I wanted to watch a P & P imitation, I would just watch the real thing again. I found the movie Becoming Jane, which attempted to follow a truer Jane Austen style, to be a sappy and insipid imitation that was truly forgettable and predictable. No one else can do Jane Austen and Lost in Austen doesn't try to. Instead, its fun and impertinent in a way that I think Jane herself would appreciate.

The mini series was absolutely sweet and funny and it will be appreciated by real Jane Austen fanatics. It does resemble the weirdest dream that only authors of fan fiction have had. At times the plot lines turn into silly situations but for most of the time they are quite enjoyable. The young actors make the most of it. I wish response has been better so that the series can be longer. I also wish they had made one about Lizzy's stay in London, which could provide for situations way funnier than those during Amanda's stay in Longbourne. On a different note it does make you think about whether or not things were the way Jane Austen described them but not enough to make you disillusioned with her world. Just the right amount of real-ness is attached to the book characters. To the book fanatics I'd recommend watching without prejudice and you'll have fun.

Hard to imagine how this could be better. The casting is close to perfect. Mr and Mrs Bennet as played by Hugh Bonneville and Alex Kingston quickly outshine previous inhabitants of these roles. This Mrs Bennet is neurotic but also strong, and Mr Bennet is suitably acidic but also very affable and easy to like. The Bennet sisters are very well presented. Jane has a very gentle quality. Kitty and Lydia and Mary are a pleasure to see on screen. Gemma Arterton is as impressive as we would expect in the role of Lizzie. Best of all is Jemima Rooper as Amanda, a fine young actress who here gets the chance to take centre stage and to properly show us what she can do. The men inhabit their parts well - some very good work from Tom Riley as Wickhan, Eliot Cowan as a smouldering Mr Darcy and Tom Mison as a very winning Mr Bingley. Christina Cole is on great icy form as Mr Bingley's sister. And Mr Collins is truly repulsive as played by Guy Henry, looking like the grim reaper and finding a grotesque comedy in this very oily character. But what is most clever about this new 'spin' on Pride and Prejudice is the way it takes a story we all think we know and then turns it upside down. Guy Andrews writes very funny dialogue for both Amanda as a modern woman and the characters we know from Jane Austen. The comic set pieces are directed with real aplomb by Dan Zeff, but it's also surprisingly moving at times. Costumes and sets all look good. Having seen this I don't know how we'll take another 'straight' Austen adaptation seriously again!

. . . in Longbourne.

I may be asked to hand in my Austen Purists card but I liked it. And I think ITV are far better advised to try and cash in on the Austen market with this type of product than with the anaemic reproductions of BBC period drama they treated us to last year.

It's limited but it's funny. One of mainstays is that the characters are all subtly different and we are mostly offstage with scenes from the novel happening elsewhere. Lydia is attractively vivacious rather than promiscuously giddy, Jane is not that pretty, Darcy is not offensively haughty, the stranger from the future is not offensively gauche, and Mrs Bennett who has been very quick to understand the threat the newcomer poses to her daughters AND take action, is set up for very interesting developments - more a fearsome adversary so far than a cringing embarrassment.

Lizzie even looks like Lizzie should, but since she's hardly been in it so far, we'll have to wait and see what Gemma Arterton comes up with when she gets a few lines. It's a big ask, so I'll be interested to see whether she and Jemima Rooper can carry it off.

But you can count me in. Definitely.

I am utterly captivated by this refreshing take on Austen. I used to love romantic periodical novels when much younger, but they have since fallen out of favour with me, as they are all so alike. Here I am quite unaware, as of yet, what may happen and I absolutely adore the suspense.

The actors are well chosen for their task and I am quickly falling in love with them one by one. I never thought I would see Mr Bingley as adorable, but in this it is quite so. The characterizations over all are very well thought out, especially Mr Bennet (the father). I must also give Alex Kingston some cheer for her portrayal of Mrs Bennet, as it is a far more layered performance than one would first expect.

Our leading lady is also quite the find. She is very human without being the typical foot-in-mouth we usually see in these trapped-in-another-world stories. Not to say that she doesn't make mistakes, but it has yet to become painful or terribly unbelievable in any way.

So to summarize: Watch this series, not because you are an Austen puritan, which may make you regret such action, but because you love periodicals, fantasy and beautiful language. Oh, and romance that takes its sweet time. ^^