Lost in Austen

Infobox Television
show_name = Lost in Austen


caption = "Lost in Austen" intertitle
writer = Guy Andrews
director = Dan Zeff
starring = Jemima Rooper
Alex Kingston
Hugh Bonneville
Elliot Cowan
Gemma Arterton
country = United Kingdom
num_episodes = 4
executive_producer = Guy Andrews
Michele Buck
Damien Timmer
producer = Kate McKerrell
company = Mammoth Screen
runtime = 45 mins.
channel = ITV
first_aired = 3
last_aired = 24 September 2008
website = http://www.itv.com/Drama/perioddrama/LostInAusten/default.html

"Lost in Austen" is a four-part 2008 British television series for the ITV network, written by Guy Andrews and loosely based on "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen. Produced by Mammoth Screen, the series was originally scheduled to be broadcast in May 2008, [ [http://screenyorkshire.co.uk/news-events/news-archive/leeds-city-markets-double-for-london-in-itv-time-t Leeds City Markets Double for London in ITV Time Travel Drama ] ] but was pushed back to be part of the opening lineup of the Autumn schedule. [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/apr/22/itv.television ITV shows including Affinity on ice until Fincham arrives | Media | guardian.co.uk ] ] The first episode was eventually shown on ITV at 9 pm on 3 September 2008, gaining 4.2 million viewers. The remaining episodes were broadcast on a weekly basis. [http://www.itv.com/PressCentre/LostInAusten/Ep3Wk38/default.html] "Lost in Austen" was released in the UK on DVD on 28 September 2008. It contains two discs with the four episodes plus a "Making of" documentary.

Plot

Episode 1 – Amanda Price, a keen Jane Austen fan from present-day Hammersmith, discovers the "Pride and Prejudice" character Elizabeth Bennet in her bathroom. Amanda curiously steps through a secret doorway hidden in the wall that Elizabeth had shown her, and finds herself in the house of the Bennets, Longbourn, at the beginning of the novel. Amanda is trapped in this world, and Elizabeth is meanwhile in 21st Century London. Mr Bennet is hospitable, and Amanda tries to ensure that the novel progresses as it should. At a ball she meets Mr Bingley and Mr Darcy, with the former starting to fall in love with her instead of Jane. Amanda forces Jane to travel to the Bingleys' home in bad weather to get the novel back on track, but when she learns that this may give Jane a fatal attack of croup, Amanda follows her to save her.

Episode 2 – While caring for Jane at Netherfield Park, Amanda attempts to put a stop to Bingley's advances by telling him she is a lesbian. On the way back to Longbourn, they meet Wickham when their carriage breaks down. Back at Longbourn, the Bennets are visited by Mr Collins, the entailed heir of their home. Amanda's initial hostility to Wickham leads to his spreading rumours that, despite her "£27,000 a year" (impressive by Georgian standards), she is actually the daughter of a successful fishmonger. Amanda's attempts to set up Bingley and Jane and to have Mr Collins marry her instead are unsuccessful, and Mr Collins marries Jane. Amanda angrily accuses Darcy or spoiling his friend's chance of happiness, and she admits to herself that she is falling in love with him.

Episode 3 – After Mrs Bennet ejects Amanda from Longbourn, Wickham prepares Amanda for society. In a visit to Pemberley with the Bennets and Mr and Mrs Collins, Amanda's hostility to Darcy wanes as she begins to feel that, in Elizabeth's absence, she must 'understudy' for her. She later learns that Darcy's sister Georgiana was in love with Wickham, and in response to his rejection of her advances, Georgiana told Darcy that Wickham "ravaged her". Wickham maintains this falsehood to spare Georgiana's honour, which softens Amanda's hostility towards him. Amanda and Darcy fall mutually in love, but after Caroline's meddling Amanda reveals her lost virginity to Darcy. Darcy retreats from his plans to marry her, angering Amanda so much that she rips out the pages of her "Price and Prejudice" book and throws it out the window. She later finds Darcy in the garden reading its contents, and they get into an argument as he believes her to have written it.

Episode 4 – Just as Darcy announces his engagement to Bingley's sister Caroline, Mrs Bennet receives a note of Lydia's elopement with Mr Bingley. They find Lydia and Mr Bingley hiding at a local inn in Hammersmith, but although nothing happened between the elopers, an enraged Mr Bennet attacks Bingley, whose self-defence causes Mr Bennet's head to crack open. Amanda fears for Mr Bennet's life and bursts out of a door, finding herself in modern-day London. Amanda's old boyfriend drives her to Elizabeth's new working place as a nanny, and on the way, Amanda spots Darcy in the crowd, claiming he followed her for love. Elizabeth has thoroughly embraced modern life and is shocked to meet Darcy as she is aware of the novel. Amanda hurries them back to her bathroom and the portal to Longbourn. Mr Bennet returns home to make a full recovery and is reunited with his daughter, while Darcy regards his experience in modern London as a dream. Lady Catherine arrives at Longbourn and bargains for Amanda's disappearance from society by annulling Jane's marriage to Mr Collins on the grounds of non-consummation. Amanda agrees, and as Lady Catherine takes her leave, it is implied that Captain Wickham will make a play for Caroline. Jane and Bingley plan to leave their past behind and go to America as husband and wife. Elizabeth gets her father's blessing to return to (modern-day) Hammersmith, while Amanda stays and is reunited with Darcy in Pemberly.

Cast

*Jemima Rooper as Amanda Price
*Alex Kingston as Mrs Bennet
*Hugh Bonneville as Mr Bennet
*Elliot Cowan as Fitzwilliam Darcy
*Morven Christie as Jane Bennet
*Tom Riley as Wickham
*Perdita Weeks as Lydia Bennet
*Gemma Arterton as Elizabeth Bennet
*Christina Cole as Caroline Bingley
*Florence Hoath as Kitty Bennet
*Lindsay Duncan as Lady Catherine de Bourgh
*Guy Henry as Mr Collins
*Michelle Duncan as Charlotte Lucas
*Ruby Bentall as Mary Bennet
*Tom Mison as Mr Bingley

Production

Amanda Price's workplace in "Lost in Austen" was filmed in Wakefield at the disused Yorkshire Bank building on Westgate. The Beluga Lounge on Market Street, also in Wakefield, was the set of a London wine bar. [http://www.wakefieldexpress.co.uk/news/Wakefield-setting-for-Austen-TV.4438167.jp] Several areas inside and outside Cannon Hall at Cannon Hall Museum, near Barnsley, feature in the production, including the oak-panelled ballroom. [http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/Which-South-Yorks-landmark-will.4447551.jp] Leeds-based Screen Yorkshire told production company Mammoth Screen of the potential of some landscapes in the Wetherby district as the setting for "Lost in Austen". Filming took place at locations including Bramham Park, parts of York and Leeds City Markets. [http://www.wetherbynews.co.uk/wetherby/Wetherby-and-Bramham-Park-take.4434922.jp] Harewood House, Near to Leeds was the setting for Pemberley.

31-year-old actor Elliot Cowan (Mr Darcy) got the part when he was playing Henry V, which in his words "has a similar sort of iconography within the theatre canon", so he was not worried. [http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5jyLe4kg07r5YDQE2ochwzAj4_6kA] Christina Cole and lead actress Jemima Rooper previously starred together in the Sky One supernatural series "Hex". [http://www.sundayherald.com/arts/arts/display.var.2436831.0.0.php] , whilst Rooper and Mison appeared together shortly afterwards, again on ITV, in the "Agatha Christie's Poirot" adaptation of "Third Girl" (first broadcast 28 September 2008). Alex Kingston (Mrs Bennet) found a sadness in her character and played her as if she was "a woman unhappy in her marital situation. Her husband is, in essence, absent in the marriage and in the family, and she's a woman trying to keep everything together when she doesn't really have the emotional tools to do it. It's this that makes her twittery. I think people can be driven slowly to becoming those people by the unfortunate situations that they're in. [...] I think that Mr Bennet is absolutely culpable for his wife's twittering. She's overcompensating for her husband's absence." [http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/sep/03/celebrity.television?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront]

Reception

Ratings

"Lost in Austen" won critical praise but struggled in the ratings against BBC One's hit series "Who Do You Think You Are?". Consolidated ratings for the first episode averaged 4,185,000 individuals and a 17.6% share. The consolidated ratings for episode two averaged 3,489,000 individuals and a 14.8% share. The third episode's consolidated figures were 3.256,000 and a 13.2% share.http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/a130203/poor-number-for-bbc-two-ratings.html] [http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/sep/18/tvratings.television] According to overnight figures, "Lost In Austen" ended its run with 3.06m and 13.6% share.cite web |last=Wilkes |first=Neil |url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/a131078/lost-in-austen-ends-with-3m.html |title='Lost In Austen' ends with 3m |publisher=digitalspy.co.uk |date=September 25 2008 |accessdate=2008-09-25] While the show couldn't match the slot average for the year of 3.8m (16.1%), it gave a significant boost to the commercial network's upmarket profile. Over the series, 46% of the show's audience came from the ABC1 demographic, an increase of 22.7% on the channel's performance so far this year of 37.5%. [http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/2008/09/lost_in_austen_ends_with_31m.html]

Critical reception

"Lost in Austen" was well received by the press throughout its run. "Lost in Austen" was the subject of various blogs, including a series by Sarah Dempster writing online in guardian.co.uk. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/tvandradioblog/2008/sep/04/lostinlostinaustenep1] [http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/tvandradioblog/2008/sep/11/janeausten.itv] [http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/tvandradioblog/2008/sep/18/janeausten.itv] [http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/tvandradioblog/2008/sep/25/lostinausten4]

Reviewing the first episode of the four-parter, a "Times" writer described "Lost in Austen" as:

"...a funny, clever breeze...It is a culture-clashing, time-clashing Walnut Whip of frothy nonsense with the intriguing proposition that Amanda may be able to change the outcome of her fictional touchstone." [http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/tv_and_radio/article4668035.ece]

James Walton of "The Daily Telegraph" noted that:

"...this is not a sentence that you often hear – but it’s been a good week for drama on ITV1... last night brought us the first episode of "Lost in Austen". Of course, as many people have already spotted from its shameless blending of "Pride and Prejudice" with "Life on Mars", the series does come with a distinct whiff of commercial calculation. Yet, so far at least, this only goes to show that commercial calculation can sometimes work rather well. The result can’t be called profound. Nonetheless, it does triumphantly achieve its main aim of being enormously good-natured fun." [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/09/04/nosplit/bvtv04last.xml The Daily Telegraph: James Walton] ]

"The Guardian"'s reviewer wrote:

"...so perfectly drawn is the world that begins to unfurl - and so sincere and endearing is Guy Andrews' script - that suspension of disbelief becomes part of the fun. It's a fantasy. A fairy tale... So, what's it all about? It's about self-sacrifice, basically, and the restorative wonder of both fantasy and classic literature. It's You Can Heal Your Bustle; Feel The Bonnet and Wear It Anyway. Do you need a working knowledge of the novel to enjoy it? No. I knew absolutely bugger all about any of it bar the basics - Darcy, wet nightshirt, um - but soon found myself immersed in the Bennets' world, buoyed along by a script that positively frolics in the glorious fussiness of Georgian mores... I loved it." [http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/tv/2008/09/lost_in_lost_in_austen_ep_1.html]

Hermione Eyre in "The Independent on Sunday" wrote:

"...somewhere in his youth or childhood, Michael Grade must have done something good. "Lost In Austen" is everything ITV needs it to be: entirely delightful nonsense. What sounded on paper like a cynical hybrid (bonnets and speed dating! This will tick every woman's box!) has arrived on our screens pert, warm and funny. Like Billie Piper, Jemima Rooper is an entirely contemporary actress, effortlessly likeable and believable. Is it the hair? Is it the vowels? There's a sally like her in every shop on every street. She's every bint. A perfect time-travel companion. The faux-Austen dialogue trips off the cast's tongues ("Mr Darcy regards all forms of sudden locomotion as a mark of ill breeding" came out in seconds flat) and the daft, arch tone defibrillates the half-dead genre of period drama... This a sweet and foamy guilty pleasure, the advocaat on the TV cocktail list." [http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/film-and-tv/tv-radio-reviews/fionas-story-bbc-1brlost-in-austen-itv1brgod-on-trial-bbc-2brthe-sculpture-diaries-channel-4-921471.html]

Reviewing episode two, Nancy Banks Smith in "The Guardian" wrote:

"Lost in Austen" (ITV1) continues, fruity and frothy like a jam omelette. This is the fantasy of a very modern girl, Amanda, lost in "Pride and Prejudice". Her salary, £27,000 a year, caused some flutters, kicking Mr Darcy's pittance into touch. Mr Collins arrived, looking disturbingly like Disraeli, and Amanda noticed: "He squeezes himself through his trouser pocket. And Then He Sniffs His Fingers!" That's where a top hat comes in handy. Horrifyingly, in spite or because of Amanda's meddling, Mr Collins married Jane last night. Amazingly good for ITV. Surely some mistake here?" [http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2008/sep/11/television.television] .

Under the headline "creative revival is not enough to reverse ITV's historic low", Janine Gibson, editor-in-chief of "Media Guardian" wrote on 15th September 2008 that:

"...there are two strange things about "Lost in Austen". All right, three if we include the premise. The first is that it's an ITV drama series that is getting almost universally good press and word of mouth. This hasn't happened for a while. Second, it's week two of a high-concept contemporary drama and there's no backlash. It's almost enough to start talk of a creative revival at ITV: flawed, but ambitious; a big ask, but answered with verve; polarising and a bit controversial. It is, in short, the sort of thing we've come to expect of BBC1." [http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/sep/15/itv.television]

Reviewing episode three, Tim Teeman in "The Times" wrote:

"Guy Andrews, the writer of "Lost in Austen", is having so much fun filleting and perverting "Pride and Prejudice" — “frosty knickers” Caroline Bingley, a lesbian! — you may be becoming vexed as to how the mess that present-day Amanda is wreaking within Austen’s novel will be cleared up. This witty and moving drama’s major failing is we don’t know what Elizabeth Bennet is getting up to in modern-day Hammersmith. But it was fun to have Amanda ask Mr Darcy to emerge from the water so that she could indulge a fantasy she had only read on the page. “I’m having a weird, postmodern moment,” she noted. So were we: it felt good." [http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/tv_and_radio/article4774950.ece]

Reviewing the final episode Tim Teeman in "The Times" continued his praise, giving the show five stars and writing:

"Guy Andrews (scriptwriter) and Dan Zeff (director) followed the relationships that Andrews had set askew through to their conclusion... This was wonderfully funny, sad and stirring: the music had me welling up... How clever to turn the time travel question to a radically conclusive purpose...I had another chocolate and marvelled at the sharp yet frothy, subversive-yet-utterly-respectful-of-Austen brilliance of it all. Those performances and the music zinged. It all zinged. Oh Mr Bennet, might we see you again perhaps in a longer-formatted series, or might that be a recipe for disaster? Was this a treat best served with brevity? Did anyone else check the cupboard in their bathroom afterwards . . . just in case?" [http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/tv_and_radio/article4819807.ece]

References

External links

* [http://www.itv.com/Drama/perioddrama/LostInAusten/default.html "Lost in Austen"] at itv.com
*imdb title|1117666