Masterpiece Classic presents the second part of the BBC’s newest adaptation of Emma. Discuss below. Don’t be afraid to express an opinion different from the majority (and don’t be hostile to those with other opinions).
There’s also a live Emma-watching party on Twitter during the broadcast. Use the hashtag #emma_pbs
AustenBlog 
I don’t like it. I don’t like it. I don’t like it. I do like Jonny Lee Miller. Why must all these women be blond? I’m sorry, I haven’t read any other comments. Why is Mrs. Elton so lovely to behold? Why have MRs. Elton’s scenes been cut down? There’s no comic villain better than Mrs. Elton. I’m sorry for the stream-of-consciousness, but these new adaptations are almost shot-for-shot remakes of their big-screen counterparts from the 1990’s.
In short, I find many details about this version highly annoying. And I don’t like it. And I can’t miss it next week.
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I’ve been enjoying the series but am disappointed I have to wait an additional week…
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I was beguiled enough by the music and dancing (although I thought the first dance was a little Bollywood) that it made this hour go by pleasantly enough.
More balls w/male leads in knee breeches, and less mugging and emoting on the part of the female casst would be my preference with this production. I am happy to see Romola is graceful in the dance scenes. I still find her rather like Queenie from Blackadder II in the rest. (nose crinkle:moue:pout).
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I enjoyed watching Emma tonight. For some reason my PBS station showed parts 2 & 3 tonight (not that I’m complaining. I was REALLY excited when I found that out)!! Although I still definitely prefer the Paltrow version of Emma, I just decided that I was going to sit down and enjoy what they gave me. I thought it had it’s good moments, and I definitely did enjoy myself. I was a bit disappointed that they didn’t show a specific scene at the end (I won’t ruin anything for anyone), but overall it was enjoyable!
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Even though I live in America, I have seen the British version on Youtube, and I was very peeved that the PBS version took out THREE scenes from this last episode, I suppose due to time constraint. Two of the scenes were rather large. There is one after Churchill shows them the rooms for the ball where Knightley and Emma discuss the ball, and Emma teases K. because he does not like to dance. It is a rather nice scene between the two of them that should not have been taken out under any circumstance. It also provides a smooth transition between them announcing the ball and Churchill receiving a letter from his aunt that requires them to call off the ball. There is a rather crucial scene that they deleted where, after Jane is caught in the rain by John Knightley, Mrs. Elton chastises Jane later at Emma’s party and tries to convince her to allow her mailman to pick up and deliver her mail so she does not need to go to the post-office. It is crucial, because it is the first time we see Jane really stand up for herself. And to the person who commented about the lack of Mrs. Elton scenes — there is a lot more of the scene where Mrs. Elton visits Emma at her home. PBS deleted the scene where Mrs. Elton tries to persuade Emma to take her father to Bath.
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Thank you, Helen–I wondered if I had missed something last night because it seems that Emma’s teasing of Mr. Knightly for turning out to be a fine dancer had no basis since they never showed him as being reluctant or why Emma would be surprised someone she presumably knows well can dance well.
I would have appreciated all those missing scenes. The second half hour had a very chopped-up feel to it.
This production is growing on me a little, though, mostly because of the supporting cast and the costume and production values.
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I am incensed that they keep cutting scenes out of these productions to be shown on PBS. The episode last night ended at 52 minutes or so; what, they can’t leave at least 8 minutes in to make it to the hour? It’s PBS, for Christ’s sake–there are no ads. (Or at least, there aren’t supposed to be.)
They did it with Persuasion too, which badly chopped the production up and left out very important parts of the narrative. Ridiculous. Anyone who cuts scenes with JLM in them is evil, evil, evil.
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I’ll go ahead and admit it — I liked it. I’ve liked the whole thing so far, and I’ve even watched the last part via YouTube. No Austen adaptation can ever be completely perfect, but I think they’ve captured the tone and the spirit of the book quite well.
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Anyone know if the cut scenes will be on the Region 1 DVD?
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In general, DVDs released by the BBC are intact. It’s the ones released by WGBH that are not. During the last “Austen season,” Persuasion DVDs were released by the Beeb, and they were intact. But the DVDs of MP and NA were released by WGBH and were the same cuts (pardon the expression) that were shown on PBS here in the States. Personally, I think it’s scandalous and they need to be stopped. They won’t if people don’t make a stink. I tried, but I’m only one person. I was at a JASNA gathering in NY (for a private pre-release screening of P07) and noticed the cuts. During the Q&A with a WGBH rep, I asked what the reason for the cuts was, and she gave me some gibberish about how it was really ITV that made the cuts and that they just aired what they had. Bull-bleep.
In short, this film was produced by the Beeb and the DVDs are being released by them so the DVDs should be OK.
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If only PBS could be persuaded to skip the patronizing “introduction” and instead use that time to show the cut scenes…..
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I really enjoyed watching Part 2 last night but after reading the comments about what was deleted I am disappointed at what I missed. I do hope those deleted bits will be on the DVD because I plan to buy it. I am glad they left the bit with the spelling game in. I like the Jane Fairfax of this version better than the Jane Fairfax in the Gwyneth Paltrow version. When I watched that one I felt like Jane’s character must have been dialed back to allow Gwyneth to shine as Emma. Something else I liked about this version is when Knightley hints to Emma that Jane Fairfax accepts the company of Mrs. Elton because she doesn’t have the company of someone else more suitable (meaning herself) but of course Emma doesn’t get it.
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I almost spit my water out at the comment above “Anyone who cuts scenes with JLM in them is evil, evil, evil.”
tee hee
I am a rookie.. I have only read P&P and a few sequels.
So that being said.. hook line and sinker..I loved this PBS version, not to discount any of the comments and opins above. And I was a lucky one who saw #3 last night (near Dallas). I am glad I enjoyed it, & after I read Emma, and see the BBC version, I may be in a league of the commenters here. (But I doubt it. )
I do sooooo adore the Knightley character (after watching JLM of course).. whereas Austen’s Darcy got on my nerves a bit, I wonder if Austen’s characterization of Knightley will end up grating on my nerves as well? We shall see.
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We expect (and like) to hear from newbies after the movies are broadcast, Marie, so your comments are more than welcome. I hope you will give the book a try after you’ve enjoyed the series!
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I will say I am impressed with this version. Romola Garai and company have raised my opinion of Emma, which was my least favorite of her novels. However, my favorite is still the Kate Beckinsale/Mark Strong version.
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The kind of scene-cutting described above really ticks me off as well. I live in Holland, so am able to watch these British miniseries intact on BBC when they are first broadcast. But when they later broadcast them on Dutch television, they put the scissors in them all too quickly as well. And what’s even worse, when they release the DVDs to the Dutch market, it’s usually exactly what was shown on the national broadcaster – they don’t even take the trouble to put the deleted scenes back in. A number of fervent fans on the janeausten.nl forum have made complaints to (so far) no avail. If they didn’t have recourse to amazon.co.uk, they would have reached for the tar tar and pitchforks long since.
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We get that too. As I mentioned above, the DVDs released in the US by PBS itself contained the cut versions of the film.
My multi-region player is still in storage, and the player we’re using now at home appears to be un-hackable, so I can’t even rely on Amazon.co.uk. I have to rely on the kindness of friends who can torrent, or the kindness of strangers at YouTube.
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I personally love the new version of Emma. I think it takes the best of both the Beckinsale version – which I also love and the Hollywood version, which I only liked and had problems with. I love the casting in this new version… Well Done! I am sorry but not surprised to hear about the deleted scenes. I hate it when they do that. Are the on the dvd which I have pre-ordered? My favorite remake so far has been Sense and Sensibility but this is a very close 2nd.
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I really looked forward to this PBS version of Emma. I am a bit dissappointed that it didn’t reach my expectations that I hoped to be drawn into another time. I almost felt like they were good actors wearing period costumes. I, too thought it was too choppy and disjointed. However, I like that fact that Mr. Elton was really a more attractive man than in other version so Emma’s rejection of him was more powerful. I did like the Paltrow version and have never seen the Kate Beckinsale version which I’m going to look for at the video store. I’m looking forward to the final segment and hope that it will all come together. (There’s nothing like the book, though.)
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