Sanditon the last, yet incomplete novel of Jane Austen is coming to PBS’s Masterpiece in 2020!
“When Jane Austen was chronically ill with a mysterious disease in early 1817, she turned her thoughts to a happier subject. She started work on a witty and delightful novel set in a seaside town. She never finished it. Now, screenwriter Andrew Davies (War and Peace, Mr. Selfridge, Les Misérables, Pride and Prejudice) completes the story.
“Sanditon tells the story of the joyously impulsive, spirited and unconventional Charlotte Heywood (Rose Williams) and her spiky relationship with the humorous, charming Sidney Parker (Theo James). When a chance accident transports her from her rural hometown of Willingden to the would-be coastal resort of the eponymous title, it exposes Charlotte to the intrigues and dalliances of a seaside town on the make, and the characters whose fortunes depend on its commercial success. The twists and turns of the plot, which takes viewers from the West Indies to the rotting alleys of London, exposes the hidden agendas of each character.”
Also appearing are: Anne Reid (Years and Years) as the forthright grande dame of Sanditon, Lady Denham; Kris Marshall (Love Actually) as Sanditon’s compulsively enterprising promoter, Tom Parker; and Crystal Clarke (Ordeal by Innocence) as the mysterious West Indian heiress, Miss Lambe.
Kate Ashfield (Secrets and Lies) as Tom’s stalwart spouse, Mary; Jack Fox (Riviera) as fortune hunter Sir Edward Denham; Charlotte Spencer (Watership Down) as Sir Edward’s scheming sister, Esther; and Lily Sacofsky (Bancroft) as the enigmatic and elegant Clara Brereton.
Source and lead image photo credit via PBS press office: Rose Williams as Charlotte Heywood, Courtesy of Photographer, Simon Ridgway/© Red Planet Pictures / ITV 2019