We really shall retire to Bedlam (updated)

October 3, 2007

by Mags

ITV, perpetrator of the Jane Austen Season, has announced that production has begun on a new series called “Lost in Austen.”

Disillusioned with her life in London and her boyfriend, Amanda discovers Elizabeth in her bathroom. Soon she finds herself swapping place with her as she enters the ‘real’ fictional world of Pride And Prejudice, arriving in the home of the Bennet family.

As has been pointed out in comments, it sounds like a rather fun premise, but as we blogged a while back:

We have heard some details about the planned series from a very well-placed source, which unfortunately we are not at liberty to reveal; but from what we have heard, be afraid, Gentle Readers, be very afraid. Of course it’s still very much in pre-production so we may be suffering anticipatory angst in vain, and it will turn out to be the wacky, hilarious modern-girl-meets-Regency romp that The Powers That Be apparently think it is rather than a Mary Sue bad fan fiction trainwreck.

We know that in some quarters we are considered Negative Mags, the snobby purist who ruins everyone’s fun by insisting on quality Jane Austen Brand™ merchandise rather than “good enough” or “close enough” or “better than the other one”; but we repeat that there is no one who would be more delighted than we if this turned out to be something great. Dorothy is writing to Serle for healthy recipes for stewed crow, which we will feast on publicly if Lost in Austen does turn out to be good; and with pleasure, because the enjoyment of a great series will make us very, very happy. But we’re not holding our breath.

Even not considering our bit of inside information, there are a couple of things in the press release that give us pause. One we already mentioned: four episodes. Four one-hour episodes, we understand (probably more like 45-50 minutes with ads, let’s say). That’s a minimum of three hours. We repeat:

ITV gave Northanger Abbey 90 minutes. They gave Persuasion 90 minutes. They callously, viciously, and with extreme prejudice shoehorned Mansfield Park into 90 minutes. And they’re giving this three to four hours.

We think this shows ITV’s attitude toward Jane Austen quite plainly, don’t you?

The other thing that amused us from the press release was a quote from Controller of Drama Commissioning for ITV, Sally Haynes.

“Lost in Austen has the high production values of period drama. Its sumptuous period locations, costume, carriages and props are juxtaposed with Amanda Price’s very modern lifestyle.

“High production values?” “Sumptuous period locations, costume, carriages and props?” This from the network that gave us a claustrophobic Mansfield Park that never moved off the estate, as though it were surrounded with an electrified fence, replaced a ball with a picnic with OUTDOOR DANCING!!!, and had Billie Piper in medieval bodices and her hair looking like she had just got out of bed? And Northanger Abbey with 100 feet of cobblestone and an arch in Dublin appearing as the entire city of Bath, which they apparently seemed to think no Janeite had ever seen? And Persuasion–well, that was a little better, at least they filmed in Bath. Or more properly in various locations along the Royal Crescent. See Anne run from one end of the Royal Crescent! See Anne run from the other end of the Royal Crescent! Can we trust in these “high production values” and “sumptuous period locations, costume, carriages and props?” Or should we be irritated that, again, they’re giving the crappy Mary Sue fan fiction the good stuff after having cheated the real Jane Austen stories?

The cleverness of the script will appeal to Austen aficionados and attract a new audience to this beautiful love story.”

Oh please. Don’t patronize us.

The series will have Jemima Rooper as Amanda, Gemma Arterton as Elizabeth, Elliot Cowan as Darcy, Morven Christie as Jane, Hugh Bonneville as Mr. Bennet, Alex Kingston as Mrs. Bennet, Lindsay Duncan as Lady Catherine de Bourgh; Tom Mison is Mr Bingley, Tom Riley is Captain Wickham, and Christina Cole is Caroline Bingley.

We really shall retire to Bedlam (updated)

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