Sense and Sensibility

While Marianne and Elinor Dashwood are supposed to be the heroines of this Jane Austen story, they are so dull in this 4-part BBC production that when Mrs. Jennings appears, she jumps out of the screen as a full-blooded character full of life.

Hampered by extremely low production values where most of the scenes are set in smallish rooms, the viewer is left little on which to fix his/her attention. The costumes also are dull and repetitious and all of one design. The girls talk and talk and talk.

Set in the 1810s, story has the Dashwood sisters falling in love with the wrong men and then agonizing over their feelings ad nauseum. These sisters are a gloomy pair indeed and cannot compare to the sisters in Emma Thompson's brilliant 1995 film. Here , they fret and stew without a whisper of humor or spirit.

My guess is that the lackluster writing and directing defeated Joanna David ad Ciaran Madden from the getgo. Their mother (Isabel Dean) is also a gloomy gus so maybe it's inherited. Elinor (David) falls for Edward (Robin Ellis) who seems to be vaguely engaged to the grasping and catty Lucy (Frances Cuka), while Marianne (Madden) falls for Willoughby (Clive Francis) who seems to have a secret life in London.

The girls make the acquaintance of Mrs. Jennings (Patricia Routledge) a merry widow whose daughters are safely married. Mrs. Jennings takes an active interest in young people and is an inveterate matchmaker. She also serves as a surrogate mother to the girls while they are in London.

The girls suffer through dashed hopes and various humiliations before everything comes aright in the end via a series of major misapprehensions about Willoughby and Ferrars, mostly because of the gossip they listen to so attentively.

Routledge is a burst of energy physically and vocally. While the yunger women drone on in monotones, Routledge fills the air with laughter and gasps and a mellifluous voice. Those familiar with Routledge from her TV characters Hyacinth Bucket and Hetty Wainthropp will not be surprised. She's brilliant.

Stick with the 1995 film version.

This early colour production of Jane Austen's novel has some strong casting (Joanna David as Elinor, Robin Ellis as Edward Ferrars, Clive Francis as Willoughby, Patricia Routledge as Mrs Jennings) and stays reasonably close to the novel, although the third Dashwood daughter, Margaret, does not appear.

All the main events of the novel are here, and portrayed very well; despite the low budget this production also boasts some effective costumes and uses colour well. In comparison to other versions, this stands up well but perhaps the most recent television version is stronger, and the Emma Thompson film more sumptuous.

If you like Austen adaptations this is certainly worth a look, and is available in the USA and in the Netherlands on DVD.

Usually television adaptations of period pieces are better than films for those who like things to be faithful to the text. The classic BBC adaptations are usually steadfast in their respect to and faithfulness to the text. So I really enjoy watching them as they are educational rather than being Hollywoodised and truncated as tends to happen in movies. So I watch a lot of BBC novel adaptations. Most are from 1970 onwards because before this time not a lot of TV was recorded (actors performed live), and that which was has been deleted over the years by the BBC. So this is one of the earlier extant BBC period adaptations. So it is really low budget. At one point Marianne describes that it is raining but it is clearly a sunny day where they are. The BBC budget couldn't stretch at the time for waiting until another day when it is raining to shoot the scene. But the respect for the source material is clear. So it is enjoyable in this regard. However, at 3 hours long I think it packed in far less detail than the shorter 1995 movie. As the 1995 movie was such an unusually good movie adaptation of a period novel, it kind of renders this version useless. However, it does have charm and is perhaps worth a watch for die hard Austen fans. It was remade by the BBC again only 10 years later. Im guessing that this one has higher production values and is more pleasant to watch or I don't know why they would have justified remaking it so soon after this. I will watch that version soon and let you know.

I enjoyed this miniseries; as usual, the Brits make you feel like you've traveled back in time, everything looks, and everyone sounds so authentic.

I especially liked Joanna David as Elinor Dashwood, she was perfect for the role and played it very well. I also liked Ciaran Madden as Marianne, though I think she was a bit over the top in some scenes.

I also liked seeing two familiar faces from two of my fav British shows: Robin Ellis, the original Ross Poldark (and in my opinion, the best), as Edward Ferrers, and Patricia Routledge, better known as Hyacinth Bucket (pardon me, that's "Bouquet"!), playing Mrs. Jennings.

The series gives the whole story without getting bogged down with unnecessary detail. Worth watching!

I really enjoyed the music in this (1970s) adaptation - many newer ones have a soundtrack that's not of the era / too much that it distracts from the actors.

The writing is a pretty faithful version, and much longer than other productions. Mrs Jennings has a bigger part, which is quite surreal for those of us familiar with Patricia Routledge's iconic role as Hyacynth Bucket in 'Keeping Up Appearances' - which I now feel was at least 20 years in the making. And Mrs Palmer is a chip off the block too.

Clive Francis as Willoughby is also a precursor to his later performance as Miles in 'May To December'. With these comedy connections and the good use of original dialogue, there's much in common with Emma Thompson's (1990s) movie.