A Abadia de Northanger

After almost despairing at the recent Mansfield Park with Billie Piper, it was a huge relief to see this version of Northanger Abbey. Andrew Davies is pretty reliable, I think, and the two leading characters were winningly portrayed by Felicity Jones and J J Feild.

The locations, costumes and hairstyles were all good too. It was a thoroughly entertaining piece.

Of course, reducing the book to not much more than 90 minutes means that a lot has to be sacrificed. In the case of Jane Austen this is done at a higher price than with many other authors, since a key feature of her works is their gentle pace and unhurried witty dialogue - but it was good nonetheless and can be thoroughly recommended.

Northanger Abbey is not just one of my favourite Jane Austen books, but also one of my favourite books full stop. So, when hearing of an ITV adaption, I was in equal parts excited and nervous.

Well, after seeing it I can only praise it. The cast performed extremely well - especially JJ Field as the charming and likable Henry Tilney, and Felicity Jones as the naive and excitable Catherine Morland - the direction was top class, and the narrative - though not always faithful to the book - was pretty much faultless.

Some people may be disappointed in the less-faithful parts of the feature, but I felt that they fit in very well with Ms. Austen's novel. They were charming and felt very up-to-date in a way that would appeal to both Jane Austen lover's, and people who just wanted to watch a good film on Sunday night.

If you haven't seen this, then I highly recommend it, and I know that I certainly will be buying the DVD.

I was lucky enough to be in the UK the evening this aired on ITV. My British friend and I both sat up to watch and we were both satisfied. Between the two of us, I'm the "Janeite" but she truly enjoyed this adaptation as well. It's important to remember that Jane Austen's books will always outshine the movie adaptations. It's impossible to do full justice to her writing. Northanger Abbey has always been a secret favorite - I realize it's not as "serious" as the other 5 books, but I must admit I've got a real fondness for Henry Tilney. JJ Field fills the role perfectly and stands out as the star in my opinion. Felicity Jones is also very good as Catherine. The supporting actors are exceptional - and I agree with others that it's a shame we don't see more of William Beck as John Thorpe, absolutely brilliant casting! I'm looking forward to all three adaptations coming to the states - and I'd encourage anyone to try this version of Northanger Abbey out!

Huzzah! - another adaptation: for Austen fans there can never be enough. Still…I gulped a little when I heard that ITV were doing a Jane Austen season. ITV tend to drastically abridge their period dramas, and they can end up slightly cheap-looking, losing integrity when contrasted with the more solid and sober (and timeless?) productions of the BBC.

Northanger Abbey was Austen's first proper novel, but her last to be published; very much a turn of the (19th) century novel, showing some of the roughness of that time, before ladies became entirely encased in the strict rules society saw fit to impose. It's fitting that a cheeky, confident and funny writer (Andrew Davies) gets to have a bit of fun with this one some 200 years later. In it, Catherine Morland, a young, naïve girl from a quiet village, gets her first taste of many things on a trip to Bath, and learns both life lessons and something about love through her contact with two very different families she meets there; the grasping, manipulative Thorpes and the thoughtful and sophisticated Tilneys.

The two leads, Felicity Jones as Catherine Morland, and J J Field as Henry Tilney, are beautifully cast. Felicity Jones' youth, pretty looks and inexperience served her character very well. Her 'modern' tone has been criticised, but whilst an older actress might have delivered the lines with greater accuracy, we'd have lost Jones' juvenile wonder and humour. She delivered (almost all) her lines nicely, and although at moments she looked almost simple, staring up blankly with her mouth open, in a way this was appropriate. Nothing in Catherine Morland's previous limited experience prepared her for the life of Bath or for a family like the Tilneys – she may well gape. I loved the dream sequences where her constant absorption in Gothic horrors spills over into her imagination: her reading was teaching her to look for horror everywhere.

J J Field was wonderful in the BBC's recent adaptation of Philip Pullman's excellent "The Ruby in the Smoke", and shows again that he can play the leading man with great charm and naturalistic ease - a long career in the making I think. Re-reading the book I'm struck by the affectionate details with which Austen made Henry Tilney lovable, such as his messy rooms and his keen sense of humour. I think Field goes a long way towards putting this on screen, despite shockingly ill-fitting clothes and a script very constrained for time, missing dialogue which would have drawn out his growing attachment to Catherine. Austen has Henry tell Catherine that she "is superior in good nature to all the world". In this version her youth and looks alone seem to be the reason for her appeal.

The minor characters were mostly well-played and well drawn; especially Eleanor Tilney, who brought great dignity to her role. Some concessions have certainly been made to an audience deemed incapable of reading subtlety or of tolerating lengthy or literary dialogue. But certain additions were really funny and delightful: Catherine rolling her eyes and curling her lip at Captain Tilney's rudeness; her little sister announcing, hand on hips and with a nice swing of her little head; "CATHY. Mama says will you bring Mr Tilney to the DRAWING room." Her withering glare at Henry when they are all seated, in awkward silence, is genius: go girl.

Adaptations don't need to be slavish. The BBC's rather lurid 1986 version took just as many liberties, and more than warranted a revisit. Overall I found this a delightful adaptation, delivered with verve and spirit, so well done ITV, please, more of this, less of the abridged and dumbed-down rubbish!

I've really enjoyed that adaptation. It's witty, charming and the necessary changes brought to the book narrative are clever and do not jar too much with the original. It made me reread the book, which I think should always be the effect of a good adaptation.

The actor playing Henry Tilney was charming (maybe more than the book Henry Tilney in fact) and all the others seemed to fit their roles. Carey Mulligan makes a very effective Isabella Thorpe and plays her part with subtlety while Felicity Jones looks just naive enough for the role of Catherine. I was only bothered by the choice of William Beck of Robin Hood to play John Thorpe. His physical appearance simply did not seem to fit the character. He is a very good actor but hardly attractive enough to make a valid love-interest for romantic Catherine.

The only reason I do not give it "10" is because of the absurd over-sexualisation of Catherine's dreams or the lending to her of "The Monk" by Thorpe.

This is taking incredible liberties with the historical period in order to "make it relevant" to 21st century viewers which TV film-makers must assume to be incapable of viewing anything with interest if it does not contain overtly sexual contents, though the contrary has been proved again and again.