Comments on: A public service announcement of the Janeite Broadcasting Network http://austenblog.com/2008/01/28/a-public-service-announcement-of-the-janeite-broadcasting-network/ Tue, 15 May 2012 15:23:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Judy http://austenblog.com/2008/01/28/a-public-service-announcement-of-the-janeite-broadcasting-network/#comment-32262 Fri, 01 Feb 2008 08:18:51 +0000 http://www.austenblog.com/2008/01/28/a-public-service-announcement-of-the-janeite-broadcasting-network/#comment-32262 Mags, many thanks for the info re the NA adaptation – interesting to know that it was always planned to be short. Maybe I just assumed he had written it longer to start with!

]]> By: Mags http://austenblog.com/2008/01/28/a-public-service-announcement-of-the-janeite-broadcasting-network/#comment-32261 Thu, 31 Jan 2008 22:06:23 +0000 http://www.austenblog.com/2008/01/28/a-public-service-announcement-of-the-janeite-broadcasting-network/#comment-32261 P.S. As far as not tuning in a second night: if Part I is good enough, they’ll tune in for Part II.

]]> By: Mags http://austenblog.com/2008/01/28/a-public-service-announcement-of-the-janeite-broadcasting-network/#comment-32260 Thu, 31 Jan 2008 21:58:37 +0000 http://www.austenblog.com/2008/01/28/a-public-service-announcement-of-the-janeite-broadcasting-network/#comment-32260 Judy, I’ve had the script for five or six years, I think–from shortly after it was axed by Miramax and dead in the water. Long before ITV was involved. And it’s very, very close to what was eventually filmed. I think the date stamp on it is 2000, but I’m not sure. It is the script he was trying to get made for years, and it is 89 pages long. It was originally going to be made for London Weekend Television (not sure if they contracted it or Davies pitched it), which was taken over by Granada and eventually became ITV. The BBC was never really involved as far as I know.

]]> By: Judy http://austenblog.com/2008/01/28/a-public-service-announcement-of-the-janeite-broadcasting-network/#comment-32259 Thu, 31 Jan 2008 21:45:50 +0000 http://www.austenblog.com/2008/01/28/a-public-service-announcement-of-the-janeite-broadcasting-network/#comment-32259 Mags, I thought Davies *had* written a longer version of NA which he has been trying to get made for years without success (I think it was originally commissioned by the BBC and then cancelled), so in the end he cut his script back to 93 minutes to fit the ITV slot! I have heard a talk by him where he said it is very difficult to get period dramas made, although he didn’t mention NA in particular…

I think Baja Janeite is right that networks like ITV are nervous about whether enough people would tune in for a second night of a period drama, although I take Mags’ point that they have managed to find four hours for ‘Lost in Austen’. Possibly that one counts as a comedy and comes under a different set of rules!

]]> By: Tamara http://austenblog.com/2008/01/28/a-public-service-announcement-of-the-janeite-broadcasting-network/#comment-32258 Thu, 31 Jan 2008 02:45:48 +0000 http://www.austenblog.com/2008/01/28/a-public-service-announcement-of-the-janeite-broadcasting-network/#comment-32258 I criticize AD as much as the next person but his NA was way better than P and MP! and I give him credit. It is funny that some people assume he has written every period novel adaptation there is.

]]> By: Reeba http://austenblog.com/2008/01/28/a-public-service-announcement-of-the-janeite-broadcasting-network/#comment-32257 Wed, 30 Jan 2008 20:43:24 +0000 http://www.austenblog.com/2008/01/28/a-public-service-announcement-of-the-janeite-broadcasting-network/#comment-32257 Laurie Viera Rigler, I know I am repeating myself, but couldn’t resist ;-)
Your comment;
I did think that NA captured some of the wit and spirit of the book, but the others were sadly truncated.

Spirit of the book;
Like if she read *Tarzan* she could dream about being Jane ;-) in the spirit of the book??

some of the wit;
Sans the witty moments (the marriage vs dance, the conversation at Beechan etc.) was the wit in some of AD’s own invented moments?’

I do agree with you that it was better than the others but not as a JA adaptation. Only that it told most of the non JA stuff in a much better way than the others.

A very pretty chick-lit fan fiction.

]]> By: Mags http://austenblog.com/2008/01/28/a-public-service-announcement-of-the-janeite-broadcasting-network/#comment-32255 Tue, 29 Jan 2008 11:15:00 +0000 http://www.austenblog.com/2008/01/28/a-public-service-announcement-of-the-janeite-broadcasting-network/#comment-32255 Er, Miss Austen? “Miss Austen Regrets” is BBC. I know it’s hard to keep them all straight. :-)

]]> By: Jane Austen http://austenblog.com/2008/01/28/a-public-service-announcement-of-the-janeite-broadcasting-network/#comment-32256 Tue, 29 Jan 2008 09:50:46 +0000 http://www.austenblog.com/2008/01/28/a-public-service-announcement-of-the-janeite-broadcasting-network/#comment-32256 I find all of the latest adaptations of my books quite awful. And I am highly certain that I will not like Miss Austen Regrets either. The woman who is playing me looks like the Pug in Mansfield Park. ITV, shame on you!

]]> By: Mags http://austenblog.com/2008/01/28/a-public-service-announcement-of-the-janeite-broadcasting-network/#comment-32254 Tue, 29 Jan 2008 00:02:37 +0000 http://www.austenblog.com/2008/01/28/a-public-service-announcement-of-the-janeite-broadcasting-network/#comment-32254 But if the writers knew they had two hours (or better yet, more) to tell the story, they might have made better decisions throughout. Or maybe not. :-)

I think Judy has a point about ITV vs. BBC, too. But ITV is giving that Lost in Austen nonsense FOUR HOURS. FOUR. There’s no reason, since they were doing it as a sort of series anyway, not to have at least two one-hour episodes per book.

]]> By: Laurie Viera Rigler http://austenblog.com/2008/01/28/a-public-service-announcement-of-the-janeite-broadcasting-network/#comment-32253 Mon, 28 Jan 2008 22:58:26 +0000 http://www.austenblog.com/2008/01/28/a-public-service-announcement-of-the-janeite-broadcasting-network/#comment-32253 Mags, you make some excellent points, as do Reeba and Judy. I simply don’t get this decision to make short adaptations. Perhaps it comes down to a misguided notion that it’s really all about girl-meets-boy / girl-gets-boy, add a few bonnets and carriages, throw in a pretty mansion, and nothing else matters. And sure, you can do that in 90 minutes. Or 93 minutes. Which misses the genius of these books. I did think that NA captured some of the wit and spirit of the book, but the others were sadly truncated.

]]>