The Ones To Grow On


Emma	Mansfield Park	Northanger Abbey	Persuasion	Pride and Prejudice	Sense and Sensibility

How many ways can a young woman find true love amid the dinner parties, balls, carriage rides, picnics and other picturesque opportunities to meet the opposite sex in 19th-century England? There are six transcendently satisfying scenarios, as told in a half-dozen enchanting novels by Jane Austen — one of the most beloved writers in all of literature.

For the first time on television, Austen fans can now sit down to a feast of all of her immortal plots, presented over the course of four months in beautifully acted, lavishly set and gorgeously costumed adaptations. As a bonus, viewers will be treated to Miss Austen Regrets, a new drama based on Austen’s own bittersweet love life.

The Complete Jane Austen, beginning Sunday, Jan. 13 at 9 p.m., features all-new productions of Persuasion, Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park and Sense and Sensibility. The lineup also includes the acclaimed Emma, starring Kate Beckinsale, and the Emmy Award-winning Pride and Prejudice that made Colin Firth a leading man.

Visit the Web site for Masterpiece Classic’s The Complete Jane Austen at www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece for a chance to win a complete set of Jane Austen’s novels! The site also offers resources for starting a book and film club.

January

Persuasion
Sunday, Jan. 13, 2008 at 9 p.m.

Sally Hawkins appears as Anne Elliot, destined for spinsterhood at age 27 after being persuaded eight years earlier to refuse the proposal of dashing Captain Wentworth. Then chance brings them together again. While her better days are past, his are definitely ahead, as he’s now rich and free to play the field among eligible young beauties.

Northanger Abbey
Sunday, Jan. 20, 2008 at 9 p.m.
Repeats Tuesday, Jan. 22 at 3 a.m.

In Austen’s gentle parody of gothic fiction, Felicity Jones plays romance addict Catherine Morland. Invited to a medieval country house that appeals to her most lurid fantasies, she forms a close friendship with the younger son on the estate, Henry Tilney, but their budding romance is mysteriously cut short.

Mansfield Park
Sunday, Jan. 27, 2008 at 9 p.m.
Repeats Tuesday, Jan. 29 at 3 a.m.

Austen’s most complex plot stars Billie Piper as Fanny Price, who goes to live with prosperous relatives at Mansfield Park. Fanny navigates a labyrinth of intrigues and affairs among the occupants of the house, while her cousin Edmund Bertram remains her stalwart confidant.

February

Miss Austen Regrets
Sunday, Feb. 3, 2008 at 9 p.m.
Repeats Tuesday, Feb. 5 at 3 a.m.

If nothing else, Jane Austen wrote from personal experience. Courtship she knew well; only the last act eluded her. Olivia Williams stars in the title role.

Pride and Prejudice
Sundays, Feb. 10, 2008 to Feb. 24 at 9 p.m.
Repeats Tuesdays, Feb. 12 to Feb. 26 at 3 a.m.

Colin Firth is Mr. Darcy and Jennifer Ehle is Elizabeth Bennet in the definitive adaptation of the most-loved of all Austen novels. With five daughters, no sons and an entailed estate, the elder Bennets are in dire straits as they try to arrange advantageous marriages.

March & April

Emma
Sunday, March 23, 2008 at 9 p.m.

Kate Beckinsale stars in the title role as the tireless matchmaker who professes no interest in matrimony for herself, only for her orphaned protégée, Harriet Smith, played by Samantha Morton.

Sense and Sensibility
Sundays, March 30, 2008 and April 6, 2008 at 9 p.m.

Hattie Morahan plays levelheaded Elinor Dashwood and Charity Wakefield plays her impulsive sister, Marianne. Though poor, they attract a trio of very promising gentlemen.

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